Just ahead of the expected release of the Partygate investigative report, eyewitnesses to lockdown celebrations at government headquarters have made serious allegations. In London’s Downing Street, there were invitations to meetings with alcohol every Friday during the corona lockdown, the BBC quoted several anonymous employees as saying on Wednesday. Empty bottles and the remains of food deliveries were still lying around the next morning.

According to consistent media reports, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has received the full investigative report on the “Partygate” affair. Several copies of the report by top official Sue Gray had been handed in Downing Street, the Sky News broadcaster and the Daily Mirror newspaper reported on Wednesday. Johnson was expected to comment on the matter in Parliament around midday.

The report is eagerly awaited. Gray had internally investigated several lockdown parties at government headquarters where corona rules were broken. Because of police investigations, Gray had only published a greatly abridged report. In it she accuses Downing Street of serious misconduct. The London police have now issued more than 120 penalties against dozens of employees, and Johnson received a fine in one case.

The opposition and some MPs from Johnson’s Conservative Party are calling for the prime minister to resign. The 57-year-old has ruled this out so far. Johnson also received support on Wednesday: This was not a key moment for the PM, Tory MP Charles Walker told the BBC. On the contrary: Johnson is past the worst.

Most recently, photos of a meeting at the government seat on November 13, 2020 appeared. You can see Johnson raising a glass and apparently toasting the others present. Nobody wears a mask, there are several open bottles on a table. According to the BBC, around 30 to 40 people were crowded together in a room. Johnson himself poured alcohol for his employees. At the time, private gatherings were prohibited. London police had fined several attendees for the event, but not Johnson.