Boris Johnson’s ex-aide accuses him of lying to parliament

Bloomberg

Boris Johnson’s former top aide Dominic Cummings accused the prime minister of lying to Parliament, saying he would “swear under oath” that the premier was aware of and allowed a drinks party at Downing Street at the height of lockdown in the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
By saying Johnson misled lawmakers, Cummings is again upping the ante after a post earlier this month about a party in May 2020 left the prime minister fighting to save his career and apologizing to the House of Commons.
The charge is especially sensitive because many Tory MPs have said they are waiting for the result of a government probe into the party efore deciding whether Johnson has misled them and whether they still back his leadership.
In his statement last week, Johnson said he thought he was attending a “work” gathering and that he only stayed for 25 minutes. His office has also repeatedly said the prime minister was not aware of the event beforehand, and did not receive the widely reported “bring your own booze” email invitation from his principal private secretary Martin Reynolds.
After several newspapers reported over the weekend that Johnson had been urged not to let party go ahead, his spokesman Max Blain reiterated it was “not accurate” to suggest he knew about the May 20 event.