A photo showing Boris Johnson, his wife and up to 17 employees apparently looking for drinks in the Downing Street Garden during the first lockdown was circulated by the British newspaper The Guardian.
Johnson's office defended Johnson, insisting that officials were discussing work issues at the time.
The Prime Minister's spokesman clarified that this is a working meeting after the press conference for Covid-19 on May 15, 2020, and the fact that it happened outside normal working hours means that it is within the limits of what participants are allowed to drink. wine.
The photo shared by The Guardian appears to show several groups sitting or standing close to each other. However, Johnson's spokesman said it was impossible to say whether people were two meters apart, as was the rule at the time for business meetings.
Labor speculated that the photo showed a clear violation of the law, with their leader, Kier Starmer, saying the argument describing a working meeting was "a bit of an elaborate analysis".
On Friday, Downing Street denied that anything "social" had happened that night, following a press conference at 5 p.m., hosted by Matt Hancock, then Secretary of Health.
A Johnson spokesman said Monday that the photo showed "individual conversations after a press conference discussing work issues." He said: "There were meetings both inside and outside of number 10. This shows colleagues who were required to be at work, to meet after a press conference to discuss the work."
Asked about the availability of bottles of wine and glasses, the spokesman said: "These were people working outside normal working hours. It was not against the ordinances for these people to drink anything outside of working hours, but still to discuss work.
The rules of social distancing at the time said that if personal work meetings were to be held, people should be at least 2 meters apart. The spokesman said: "I cannot comment on the level of social distancing based on a photo from May 2020. Apparently, all those who have to work have strived to follow the guidelines for social distancing."
The photo shows Johnson's wife, Carrie, sitting next to him, apparently holding their newborn son at the time. Asked why he was there, the spokesman said it was because she lived there: "The prime minister's wife uses her garden. This is actually her garden. "
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