A leaked photo of Downing Street staff eating cheese and drinking wine in the No 10 garden during the first lockdown showed “people at work, talking about work”, Boris Johnson has said.
The prime minister’s claims came after the justice secretary Dominic Raab had stressed the Downing Street garden was a place of work.
The photo, obtained by the Guardian, showed Johnson, his then-fiancee Carrie, and 17 other staff members in the garden on May 15, 2020, with bottles of wine and a cheeseboard on a table in front of them.
Responding to broadcast questions about the photo, the prime minister said: “Those were people at work talking about work.”
He added: “This is where I live, it is where I work. Those were meetings of people at work, talking about work.”
On the same day of this garden event (let’s call it that for argument’s sake) Matt Hancock was on our TV screen to tell us how we should ALL act now under these Covid rules.
Hancock said: “In the first step, as of this week, if you work but can’t work from home, you should speak to your employer about going back in. People can now spend time outdoors and exercise as often as you like and you can meet 1 other person from outside your household in an outdoor, public place. But please keep 2 metres apart.”
He went on: “For the vast majority of people, staying alert still means staying at home as much as is possible. Working from home when you can, limiting contact with people, keeping your distance if you go out, 2 metres wherever possible, washing your hands regularly. This is still the single most effective thing that you can do to keep yourself safe and, of course, self-isolating if you or anyone in your household has coronavirus symptoms.”
Hancock also said: “This weekend, with the good weather and the new rules, I hope people can enjoy being outside but please stick with the rules, keep an eye on your family and don’t take risks.
This also happened on 15th of May.
Oh, and the day before the event the PM was doing this.
Just hope the minute’s applause didn’t get in the way for the preparation for the next day’s event…
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