Page:Fifth Report - Matter referred on 21 April 2022 (conduct of Rt Hon Boris Johnson).pdf/70

 the Rules and Guidance, indicating the importance he attached to their being taken seriously, we do not believe that, if asked at the time whether unsocially distanced “leaving dos” to maintain staff morale were permitted under the Rules and Guidance in force at the time, he would have advised the British public that they were. We note that the fact that Fixed Penalty Notices were issued for this gathering supports the conclusion that such gatherings were, in fact, not permitted under the Rules then in force. (Paragraph 65)

5. We conclude that there is photographic evidence of Mr Johnson’s presence at an event on 13 November 2020 where there was no social distancing; that no mitigations are visible in the photographs; and that the Covid Rules and Guidance at the time did not allow a socially undistanced event to proceed purely for the purpose of maintaining staff morale, and that this would have been clear to Mr Johnson. (Paragraph 66)

Gathering on 27 November 2020
6. We conclude that Mr Johnson attended an impromptu event in the Press Office vestibule on 27 November 2020 at which there is evidence from some attendees that social distancing was not observed. One witness stated that there were “certainly more than 20” people in attendance. Another stated that Mr Johnson made a joke about the lack of social distancing. Mr Johnson draws attention to the Second Permanent Secretary’s conclusion that “15 to 20 people” were present. There is not a large gap between the two estimates and clearly no-one was taking an exact count of numbers. Even if it were at the lower estimate of 15, that was too many for social distancing of 1 metre, let alone 2 metres, in that space. We note further evidence that there was a large gathering of people in the vestibule, sufficient to make it difficult for a person to make their way through the room. (Paragraph 73)

7. Mr Johnson stated that he was in attendance for about 10 minutes. This would have afforded him opportunity to observe a large gathering of people in the relatively small space of the vestibule. We have received no evidence that significant mitigations or efforts to maintain social distancing were in place at the event. We have noted earlier (see paragraphs 37 and 66) our conclusion that no reasonable reading of the Covid Guidance at the time would have considered a socially undistanced event purely for the purpose of maintaining staff morale permissible. (Paragraph 74)

Gathering on 18 December 2020
8. Mr Johnson argues that he heard nothing from his flat, nor did he see anyone “detectably under the influence of alcohol”, but it is not claimed that he did. Mr Johnson asserts that he did not observe what was going on as he passed the entrance to the Press Office, because his “mind was decisively elsewhere” and “my attention is often elsewhere when I am returning to the flat”. This may have been the case, but it is in our view not a credible reason why he would not have observed the gathering. Given the evidence we have received that between 25 and 40 people attended the gathering, that drinking began at 5 pm and the event was “beyond desk drinks” and continued till “the early hours”, and that Mr Johnson walked past at 9.58 pm, given that the issue of Fixed Penalty Notices suggests the social (not work-related) nature of the event, for at least some time (and the evidence we have suggests that would