DM Monitoring
LONDON: Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson is under mounting pressure after his office admitted to another Downing Street gathering, this time to mark his birthday in 2020.
The birthday celebration took place on the afternoon of June 19 and was organised by Johnson’s wife who brought in a cake, ITV News reported. There were about 30 people at the event, including Lulu Lytle, the interior designer who was leading a controversial renovation of Johnson’s flat and was not a member of staff, the broadcaster said. The party, which included the group singing Happy Birthday to Johnson, lasted for between 20 and 30 minutes.
“A group of staff working in No 10 that day gathered briefly in the Cabinet Room after a meeting to wish the Prime Minister a happy birthday. He was there for less than ten minutes,” Downing Street said in a statement in response to the report. ITV and the Independent also reported that a group of family and friends also celebrated later that evening in Johnson’s flat. “This is totally untrue,” the prime minister’s office said.
Johnson is already facing a slew of allegations of sometimes ‘boozy’ parties held during the 2020 and 2021 lockdowns in breach of the government’s own pandemic rules.
