Partygate: Publish PM's wife's texts over No 10 'event', says Labour

Labour has called for text messages sent by Boris Johnson's wife about a potentially rule-breaking event in the Downing Street flat to be published.

The Sunday Times has reported there is evidence Carrie Johnson organised a gathering for the PM's 56th birthday in their flat, on 19 June 2020.

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner demanded an investigation and urged the prime minister to "come clean".

But minister Chris Philp said there was no need to look into the claims.

And a spokesperson for Mrs Johnson said senior civil servant Sue Gray had been "aware" of the text exchanges while carrying out her inquiry into Downing Street parties.

Mr and Mrs Johnson, as well as Chancellor Rishi Sunak, were fined by police last month for breaking Covid rules when they attended a brief 56th birthday celebration for the prime minister in Downing Street's Cabinet Room on the afternoon of 19 June 2020.

At the weekend, the Sunday Times reported that messages sent by Mrs Johnson suggested another event had taken place in the Downing Street flat that evening.

The newspaper said an aide had messaged Mrs Johnson at 6.15pm to say the prime minister was on his way up to the flat - and that she had replied she was there with an unspecified number of male friends.

The Sunday Times also said Ms Gray had been made aware of the texts but did not investigate the alleged event.

Responding to the claims, the Cabinet Office said the person who had informed Ms Gray about the existence of the messages had not been willing to provide them to her inquiry.

According to the Sunday Times, Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, the country's most senior civil servant, has now been informed about the texts.

In a letter to Mr Case, Labour's deputy leader Ms Rayner urged him to publish the relevant messages in his possession.

She also asked him to hand them over to the Privileges Committee, a group of MPs which is carrying out its own inquiry into whether the prime minister deliberately misled Parliament over Downing Street parties.

And she called on Mr Case to make public Mr Johnson's "whereabouts" on 19 June 2020.

Mrs Johnson's spokesperson told the BBC: "Sue Gray was aware of these exchanges as part of her exhaustive inquiry into alleged breaches.

"Staff were given ample opportunity to present evidence including these messages and all relevant information was passed to the Metropolitan Police for investigation."

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Philp, a culture minister, said there had already been an "unbelievably comprehensive set of investigations" into Downing Street gatherings by Ms Gray and the Metropolitan Police.

"This has probably... rightly been the most thoroughly investigated set of incidents in recent times," he added.

The publication of Ms Gray's report - criticising "failures of leadership" in No 10 - has increased the pressure on Mr Johnson.

Since it came out last week, eight Conservative MPs have publicly called on him to step down, taking the total doing so to 24.

If 54 Conservative MPs write letters requesting a vote of no confidence, a vote on replacing Mr Johnson as leader can take place.

However, as these can be sent confidentially, it is now known how close the Conservative Party is to reaching this number.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet Office has denied claims senior figures in government were able to edit or influence Ms Gray's report before publication.

A spokesperson said it had been "impartially conducted and its contents represent the findings and conclusions of the investigation team alone".