Downing Street staff regularly held ‘wine-time Fridays’ during the Covid-19 pandemic
Downing Street staff regularly held ‘wine-time Fridays’ during the Covid-19 pandemic, which prime minister Boris Johnson was aware of, and regularly witnessed, the Mirror has exclusively revealed.
According to sources, Johnson encouraged those in participation to “let off steam” despite lockdown rules stating that indoor socialising was banned at the time.
The event – known as ‘wine-time Fridays – proved to be so popular that staff even bought a drinks fridge worth £142 to ensure their abundance of alcoholic beverages could remain cool.
Aides would reportedly take it in turns each week to visit the local Tesco Metro in Westminster, where they would use a wheel suitcase to help transfer the drinks to the fridge.
‘Wine-time Fridays’ was such a regular occurrence that it was scheduled into the electronic calendars of several members of staff inside number 10 and would often be held between 4-7pm.
Johnson was also said to be in attendance at a “handful” of the gatherings with one source saying: “Boris used to stop by for a chat while they had a drink. It was on the way up to his flat and the door was usually open. He knew about it and encouraged it.“
EXCLUSIVE: No 10 staff held ‘wine-time Fridays’ throughout pandemic with Boris Johnson regularly witnessing the gatherings.
Sources say PM encouraged aides to "let off steam" despite indoor socialising being banned under lockdown rules.https://t.co/wNUdlDik1F
— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) January 14, 2022
Meanwhile, another said: “He could see everyone sitting there drinking as he walked up.
“He would come in and say ‘Hello everyone had a hard week? Letting off some steam? Oh great’.
“The idea that he didn’t know there were drinks is total nonsense. If the PM tells you to ‘let off steam’, he’s basically saying this is fine.”
The latest revelation follows on the same day (Friday 10 January) Downing Street apologised to the Queen after a boozy party was held on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral – in which the Queen was forced to sit alone due to Covid lockdown rules.
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