'Who paid for the party?' - Night time economy advisor for Manchester submits FOI to Downing Street

The night time economy advisor for Greater Manchester has submitted a Freedom of Information request to Downing Street, in a bid to reveal if taxpayers' money was spent on alleged Number 10 Christmas parties during the coronavirus lockdown.

Sacha Lord has also demanded to know who attended the alleged gatherings. He said "I want to know who these people are who were dancing while we were in lockdown, having nibbles, playing Christmas party games and doing Secret Santa, how insensitive is that?"

Claims surfaced last week of people attending festive ‘boozy parties' and enjoying games at Downing Street on 18 December 2020.

At the time, regions like Greater Manchester and London were under Tier three restrictions, meaning social events including parties were banned.

The Prime Minister said all Covid rules had been followed in Downing Street when asked about the claims at Prime Minister's Questions last week.

Since the Mr Lord's FOI was submitted, ITV News exclusively revealed footage of senior Downing Street staff joking about holding a Christmas party in Number 10 just four days after the event is alleged to have taken place.

Boris Johnson has apologised for the video and said any rule breakers will be disciplined.

Mr Lord tweeted a copy of the request on Tuesday 7 December. It said: “ I want to know who attended these Xmas parties and if we, the taxpayers, paid for all the food and alcohol.”