‘Are you seriously taking us for a bunch of mugs?’: Phillip Schofield blasts Boris Johnson’s Government over Downing Street Christmas party on This Morning
- ITV’s This Morning host slammed Downing Street staff over ‘illegal’ Xmas party
- Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby criticised the Government’s response
- Sharing his thoughts, Schofield asked: ‘Are you taking us for a bunch of mugs?’
- Comes as TV duo Ant and Dec mocked Boris Johnson on I’m a Celebrity show
Phillip Schofield has become the latest television personality to hit out at Boris Johnson and Downing Street staff over the Christmas party that reportedly broke Covid rules last December.
Schofield joined his fellow This Morning host Holly Willoughby in criticising the Government’s response to a leaked video that showed Government aides joking over a lockdown-busting party that No 10 insists never happened last Christmas.
Sharing his thoughts on the footage, an incredulous Schofield openly asked: ‘You look at this and think are you seriously taking us for a bunch of mugs?’
It comes after the TV duo Ant and Dec last night mocked Boris Johnson’s No 10 Christmas party cover up as they branded him ‘the PM, for now’ during a live taping of I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.
Downing Street remains in crisis today over the footage of press secretary Allegra Stratton filmed last December 22 – four days after the alleged ‘boozy’ party and when London was under strict Tier 3 coronavirus curbs.
The revelation follows a week of tortured denials from No 10 over allegations that staff exchanged ‘secret Santa’ gifts and drank past midnight at an event said to have party games.
Phillip Schofield joined his fellow This Morning host Holly Willoughby in criticising the Government’s response to a leaked video that showed Government aides joking over a lockdown-busting party that No 10 insists never happened last Christmas
Sharing his thoughts on the footage, an incredulous Schofield openly asked: ‘You look at this and think are you seriously taking us for a bunch of mugs?’
Discussing the morning’s top stories with The Telegraph’s Camilla Tominey, Robert Peston and LBC’s Nick Ferrari, Schofield’s co-host Holly Willoughby described Downing Street’s response as ‘tone-deaf’.
Schofield reiterated the restrictions in place at the time of the alleged infraction to This Morning’s viewers, after health secretary Sajid Javid was ’empty-chaired’ after falling to appear for a string of pre-arranged interviews on Wednesday.
Junior health minister Maggie Throup was also pulled from her pre-planned regional interviews on Wednesday as Downing Street officials closed ranks amid growing fury over any potential Covid breaches last December.
Speaking this morning, Schofield said: ‘The Government’s own guidance made clear people must not have a work Christmas lunch or party, where there is primarily social activity.
‘You look at this and think, are you seriously taking us for a bunch of mugs?’ he asked.
His voice rising in frustration, Schofield added: ‘Let me put this another way, when we hear reports there may be restrictions coming in – possibly slightly wider restrictions – at Christmas, does the Prime Minister and his party honestly assume that any of us are going to take any notice?’
It followed the hosts of I’m a Celebrity, Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, teasing Boris Johnson’s response to the leaked footage on Tuesday’s episode of the popular television show.
The I’m a Celeb crew cheered behind the camera as Dec branded Mr Johnson ‘the PM, for now’ during the jibe at the Government’s handling of claims a party was held in Downing Street despite lockdown measures last year.
And Ant McPartlin insisted the I’m a Celeb stars had not celebrated a change of camp leader with ‘cheese, wine and a secret Santa’.
It comes as Downing Street aides had joked about branding their Christmas party as a ‘business meeting’ to hide the fact it broke Covid laws, a newly surfaced video suggested last night.
They they took part in a fake press conference just days after the alleged December 18 event last year which has raised legal questions and denials of wrongdoing from No10.
The clip, discovered by ITV news, shows Allegra Stratton, then the PM’s press secretary, and Ed Oldfield, No10’s head of digital, rehearsing a question and answer session in the No9 briefing room.
In it Oldfield asks a question about ‘a Downing Street Christmas party on Friday night’, to which Ms Stratton laughs and replies: ‘I went home.’
When he asks if the Prime Minister would condone such a party, Ms Stratton appears unsure how to respond and asks the room: ‘What’s the answer?’
The clip, discovered by ITV news shows Allegra Stratton, then the PM’s press secretary, and Ed Oldfield, No10’s head of digital, rehearsing a question and answer session in the No9 briefing room.
BBC Breakfast host Jon Kay tweeted about Government ministers no-showing on their planned TV and radio appearances earlier this morning
The show’s crew cheered behind the camera as Dec branded Mr Johnson ‘the PM, for now’ during the jibe at the Government’s handling of claims a party was held in Downing Street despite lockdown measures last year
A third voice can be heard saying ‘it wasn’t a party, it was cheese and wine’, before Ms Stratton added: ‘It was a business meeting… this fictional party was a business meeting and it was not socially distanced.’
The footage was released after Boris Johnson had earlier refused to answer questions about the gathering, with questions raised over whether it breached social distancing rules in place at the time.
Some backbenchers have even suggested that Boris Johnson’s could be forced to resign unless he ‘holds his hands up’ because of the video, which calls into question his insistence that all the rules had been followed at the time.
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