Boris Johnson says he accepts he misled the House of Commons when he said lockdown rules had been followed in No 10 - but insisted the statements were made “in good faith”
Mr Johnson said social distancing "was not always possible" in Downing Street during the pandemic due to the nature of the work and the layout of the building."The nature and importance of the work meant that, unlike many other workplaces at the time, the building had considerable movement of people at regular intervals, and people were often at work very late into the night to keep the country running.
Boris Johnson insisted that any lack of social distancing in the “old, cramped London townhouse” of No 10 was not necessarily a breach of guidance. He added that it was “implausible” that pictures would have been taken by the official No 10 photographer if he had known the events were “obviously” against the rules.
“There is not a single document that indicates that I received any warning or advice that any event broke or may have broken the Rules or Guidance,” he said in his evidence to the Privileges Committee. “As soon as the Sue Gray investigation and the Metropolitan Police investigation had been concluded, I corrected the record. I believed – and I still believe – that this was the earliest opportunity at which I could make the necessary correction.
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