Weary security forces at Downing Street have sent out an email warning about staff parties in lockdown

Exclusive:

A No. 10 insider said officials known as caretakers sent an email reminder through the building, while another source said they were later forced to come around the building to meet people directly to speak

Downing Street security has been forced to warn staff not to hold social gatherings during lockdown, sources revealed.

An insider No. 10 claimed the officials – known as custodians – sent an email reminder through the building in the summer of 2020.

A string of gatherings followed, including Boris Johnson’s own birthday celebration in the Cabinet Room, for which he was fined, which began as the country emerged from its first lockdown.

Another source told the Mirror that administrators were later forced to come around the building to speak directly to people and asked them to finish the events by 9pm.

It comes after an insider told BBC Panorama how one of the janitors was mocked as they tried to stop a party in full swing.

“I remember when a janitor was trying to stop all of this and he just shook his head at that party and said, ‘This shouldn’t be happening,'” they said.

“People made fun of him because he was so excited that this party was happening and wasn’t supposed to be happening.

“Then how did it happen when the rest of the country was living under strict lockdown?”

It comes ahead of the scheduled release of Sue Gray’s report on lockdown parties today.

This is expected to crush the party culture at the heart of the government while the rest of the country followed strict lockdown rules.

The report is expected to name Mr Johnson and deliver a scathing verdict – along with pictures that could show he broke the rules.

It comes after the bombshell claims Boris Johnson suggested to Sue Gray that she simply drop her Partygate report in a secret meeting.

The Prime Minister – who is Whitehall’s chief investigator – met her this month after No 10 officials said talks “could be something she should consider”.

No10 has refused to release any logs. But it has now emerged that Boris Johnson has asked if there was “much point” in publishing her final verdict on lockdown parties following a police inquiry, the Times and Sky News reported.

The suggestion that Boris Johnson was trying to interfere in the inquiry brings fresh pressure after he was accused of lying to Parliament – following photos of him raising a glass at a party on November 13, 2020, which he expressly denied.

Cabinet ally Grant Shapps claimed the Prime Minister “clearly did not” celebrate on leaving for aide Lee Cain, telling Sky News: “He had stopped by to say thank you and to raise a glass to a colleague who was leaving.”

Mr Shapps also bizarrely said the Prime Minister “lost his mother during the time” – although Charlotte Johnson Wahl died 10 months after the photos were taken. Officials later insisted he was speaking generally about the time of Covid, not the time of the parties.