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Image source, Sue Gray report
Staff partied in Downing Street while the rest of the country was in lockdown with the approval of their bosses, according to Sue Gray's report.
The senior civil servant said many events "should not have been allowed to happen" and senior leadership "must bear responsibility for this culture".
The report highlights excessive drinking, with staff being sick, and abuse of cleaning and security staff.
Warnings about parties breaking Covid rules were ignored, the report says.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson told MPs he took "full responsibility for everything that took place on my watch".
He said he had been "humbled by the whole experience" and had learned lessons.
But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer - who is being investigated by police over his own lockdown event - called on Tory MPs to tell Mr Johnson "the game is up" and that it is "time to pack his bags".
In her 37-page report, Ms Gray found:
- Staff partied - some until after 4am - on the eve of Prince Philip's funeral
- At another party, in June 2020, there was "excessive alcohol consumption by some individuals. One individual was sick. There was a minor altercation between two other individuals"
- "Multiple examples of a lack of respect and poor treatment of security and cleaning staff"
The PM's key aide Martin Reynolds was urged to cancel a "bring your own booze" party in the Downing Street garden in May 2020, as it posed "somewhat of a comms risk".
An unnamed special adviser also told Mr Reynolds via WhatsApp it would be "helpful" if people avoided "walking around waving bottles of wine etc" ahead of the May 2020 event, as it was taking place after a televised Covid press conference.
Mr Reynolds later told an unnamed adviser "we seem to have got away with" the party. He has since left Downing Street.
Mr Johnson joined five special advisers in a meeting with "food and alcohol" in his Downing Street flat on the evening of the announcement of Dominic Cummings' departure, Sue Gray found.
The senior civil servant conceded that she only collected "limited" information because she had only begun gathering details on it when the Metropolitan Police launched an inquiry and did not return to it.
In the conclusion to her report, Ms Gray said: "Many of these events should not have been allowed to happen.
"It is also the case that some of the more junior civil servants believed that their involvement in some of these events was permitted given the attendance of senior leaders.
"The senior leadership at the centre, both political and official, must bear responsibility for this culture."
English (US)