Media coverage of lockdown parties ‘travesty of the truth’, Johnson says

Boris Johnson says Downing Street staff were unfairly maligned and some coverage was ‘absolutely absurd’

Media coverage and TV adaptations of lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street were “absurd” and “a travesty of the truth”, Boris Johnson has argued, saying the gatherings primarily involved staff trying to work hard in difficult circumstances.

In evidence to the Covid inquiry that seems likely to enrage relatives’ groups, the former prime minister said that while he reiterated his apology for the 126 fixed-penalty notices issued in No 10 for breaches of Covid rules, staff working there had been unfairly maligned.