Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Johnson under fresh pressure over lockdown birthday bash

Johnson under fresh pressure over lockdown birthday bash

BRITISH prime minister Boris Johnson was on Tuesday fighting fresh allegations that he broke the Covid lockdown rules he imposed by attending a surprise birthday party in Downing Street when social gatherings indoors were banned.

Johnson, who in 2019 won the biggest Conservative majority in more than 30 years, is trying to shore up his premiership after claims that he and his staff partied at the heart of the British state during the worst pandemic for a century.


Revelations of revelry, including boozy parties in Downing Street, suitcases of supermarket wine, a broken children's swing, a wine fridge and jokes by staff about how to present such parties to reporters, have hammered Johnson's approval ratings.

ITV reported that Johnson attended a surprise party on his birthday, June 19. Up to 30 people attended the event in the Cabinet Room of No. 10, his office and residence, ITV said.

The prime minister was presented with a cake whilst Carrie, now his wife, led staff in a chorus of happy birthday, ITV said.

Johnson's transport minister, Grant Shapps, said he understood voter concerns about such reports but that Johnson clearly did not organise to be given a birthday cake.

"I understand the sense of concern about the sort of reports we see on the front of the newspapers," Shapps told Sky. "Mistakes were made."

"Just to be clear, the prime minister clearly didn’t organise to be given a cake; some people came forward and thought it would be appropriate on his birthday to present a cake."

Johnson has given a variety of explanations about the previous allegations of parties: first he said no rules had been broken but then he apologised to the British people for the apparent hypocrisy of such gatherings.

An official investigation by Cabinet Office official Sue Gray into the lockdown parties is due to be published later this week. Shapps said Gray was aware of the birthday party details.

ITV said one of the attendees was interior designer Lulu Lytle, who was renovating Johnson's flat in the building. ITV also said it understood that family friends were hosted in the prime minister's residence on the previous evening.

His office denied this claim.

"This is totally untrue," a spokesperson told ITV. "In line with the rules at the time, the prime minister hosted a small number of family members outside that evening."

Lytle's company said she was not invited to any birthday celebration but was in Downing Street on the day and had briefly entered the Cabinet Room as requested.

Opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said Johnson had to go.

"This is yet more evidence that we have got a prime minister who believes that the rules that he made don't apply to him."

"We cannot afford to go on with this chaotic, rudderless government. The prime minister is a national distraction and he’s got to go."

(Reuters)

More For You

Air India flight crash

Debris of Air India flight 171 is pictured after it crashed in a residential area near the airport in Ahmedabad on June 13, 2025.

Getty Images

Leicester to observe silence for Air India crash victims during Rathayatra festival

A MINUTE of silence will be observed in Leicester on Sunday, June 22, to remember those who died in the recent Air India crash. The silence will take place during the inauguration of the annual Rathayatra festival of chariots in the city centre.

Organisers from the International Society for Krishna Consciousness confirmed the silence will be held at 11.20am, followed by traditional Hindu performances from Gujarat at Gallowtree Gate, outside Sports Direct.

Keep ReadingShow less
uk-energy-bill-iStock

The discount is funded and distributed by energy companies across England, Scotland and Wales, but the government decides who qualifies. (Representational image: iStock)

iStock)

Millions more to get £150 off energy bills under new Warm Home Discount rules

MILLIONS of households in Britain will receive £150 off their energy bills this winter after the government changed the eligibility rules for the Warm Home Discount.

People on means-tested benefits will now automatically qualify for the discount, regardless of their property's size or energy score. This change is expected to extend support to 2.7 million additional households, including nearly a million with children.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sisters drown in Snowdonia pools during trip with friends

Haleema Zahid

Sisters drown in Snowdonia pools during trip with friends

TWO sisters studying at the University of Chester have drowned in mountain pools while visiting Snowdonia with university friends, an inquest has heard.

Hajra Zahid, 29, and Haleema Zahid, 25, were pulled from the water at the Watkin Pools at Eryri in the Nant Gwynant area of Gwynedd on June 11.

Keep ReadingShow less
Croydon couple dies in Air India crash after baby shower trip

Vaibhav Patel and his wife Jinal Goswami

Croydon couple dies in Air India crash after baby shower trip

A YOUNG couple from Croydon were among those killed in last week's devastating Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, it has been confirmed.

Vaibhav Patel, 29, and his pregnant wife Jinal Goswami, 27, died when their flight crashed just moments after takeoff on June 12. Goswami was seven months pregnant with the couple's first child, reports said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Iran-Israel-clash-Reuters

Smoke rises following an Israeli attack in Tehran on June 18, 2025.

Reuters

Israel hits nuclear reactors in Iran; hospital struck in retaliation

ISRAEL launched airstrikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities on Thursday, while Iranian missiles damaged an Israeli hospital, escalating the ongoing conflict between the two countries.

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would continue its campaign until Iran's nuclear programme is destroyed. “The tyrants of Tehran will pay the full price,” he said.

Keep ReadingShow less