Boris' lockdown birthday bash revealed by ITV News dominates Tuesday's papers
The nation’s front pages are dominated by fresh partygate revelations after Downing Street admitted that Carrie Johnson threw a birthday party for Boris Johnson on the afternoon of 19 June 2020 during the first national lockdown. ITV News revealed on Monday that up to 30 people are said to have attended the event in the Cabinet Room after Boris Johnson returned from an official visit to a school in Hertfordshire.
ITV News also understands that on the evening of 19 June 2020, family friends were hosted upstairs in the prime minister’s residence in an apparent further breach of the rules.
Number 10 have denied this, claiming the prime minister only hosted a small number of family members outside.
The Guardian leads with the headline 'Johnson faces fresh outrage over birthday party in No 10'. It reports on the anger directed at the prime minister from MPs and bereaved families, as further allegations emerge of Covid rule-breaking in government.
The Daily Mirror, The Sun, the Daily Star and i also lead with the claims, with the Mirror quoting the daughter of a man who died of Covid in the weeks before the birthday party, calling it “sickening”.
Members of Mr Johnson’s team were emailed in advance asking them to come to “wish the prime minister happy birthday”, according to a source quoted in The Times.
Leading with a different story, albeit one that points to more fresh claims of misconduct at Downing Street, The Independent reports that an Islamophobia review announced by the Tories in 2019 had not progressed beyond that and was 'ignored by ministers'.
Elsewhere, the Daily Mail carries its campaign to have the national insurance hike scrapped in April as cost-of-living is set to skyrocket, reporting that former Brexit chief Lord Frost is calling for it to be axed.
Meanwhile, Metro, the Daily Express and the Daily Telegraph all lead with the growing threat of war in Eastern Europe as Western leaders prepare for a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Financial Times also carries fears over the potential “lightning war”, quoting the PM as saying the 60 Russian battle groups on the borders of Ukraine could “take out Kyiv”. The paper also carries Johnson's birthday party revelations on its front page with the headline: 'Johnson's Downing Street birthday party leaves No 10 with fresh headache'.