Tory aides in Covid Christmas party video were invited to ‘jingle and mingle’
Tory aides seen dancing and mixing at a Christmas party during Covid restrictions were reportedly invited to ‘jingle and mingle’.
An invitation telling people to ‘save the date’ is believed to be the one sent out to 30 people who were asked to join the festive event on December 14 in 2020.
It tells officials to come along to ‘the Shaun Bailey for London holiday party’ with ‘jingle and mingle’ spelt out in large letters using glittery, red ribbon.
The invitation was published by the BBC today, after a bombshell video showing Conservative officials dancing, drinking and defying lockdown laws emerged on Sunday.
In the 45-second clip, obtained by the Daily Mirror, one reveller can be heard saying it’s okay to film ‘as long as we don’t stream that we’re, like, bending the rules’.
The footage shows two other party-goers dancing in front of a sign reading ‘please keep your distance’ before knocking into a buffet table full of food and drink.
Some 24 people reportedly attended the party held at the Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) in London, while the city was under Tier 2 restrictions banning indoor socialising.
The Conservative Party previously said four unnamed people had faced disciplinary action for the event.
It also stressed that the gathering was organised by the Shaun Bailey mayoral campaign team, not the Conservatives or CCHQ.
Mr Bailey, who ran an unsuccessful bid to become mayor of the capital in the 2021 election, was handed a peerage last week, after being named on Boris Johnson’s already-controversial honours list.
Tory mayoral campaign manager Ben Mallett, a former aide to Mr Johnson who can be seen chatting to guests in the video, was also on the list and awarded an OBE.
The Christmas do made headlines at the end of 2021, when a photograph from the bash emerged as part of a Metropolitan Police investigation into multiple lockdown parties allegedly held by the Government at the time.
A widely-publicised photo showed Mr Bailey, staffers and aides raising glasses of wine with a buffet table next to them.
The Met looked into the event last year and issued no fines, citing not enough evidence to ‘disprove the version of events provided by attendees’.
Now, the force has said they are ‘aware of the footage and are considering it’ as it was ‘not previously provided to officers’.
In a statement released today, the Met reminded the public that it only launches investigations into retrospective breaches of the regulations ‘when there is evidence of a serious and flagrant breach’.
There also needs to be ‘evidence that those involved knew or ought to have known what they were doing was an offence’.
Levelling Up minister Michael Gove admitted the video was ‘terrible’, telling Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday: ‘I think it’s completely out of order.
‘I just want to apologise to everyone really who, looking at that image, will think well these are people who are flouting the rules that were put in place to protect us all.’
Mr Bailey has previously apologised ‘unreservedly’ for attending the event and then resigned as chair of the London Assembly’s police and crime committee.
When the video was first revealed over the weekend, a spokesperson for his campaign team said: ‘This is an old story. We repeatedly apologised for this event at the time. It was subject to a nearly year-long police investigation. The matter is closed.’
The Conservative Party said: ‘Senior CCHQ staff became aware of an unauthorised social gathering in the basement of Matthew Parker Street organised by the Bailey campaign on the evening of 14th December 2020.
‘Formal disciplinary action was taken against the four CCHQ staff who were seconded to the Bailey campaign.’
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