57. Turning to the Rules, Mr Johnson told us that the gathering on 13 November was “absolutely essential for work purposes” because:
two senior members of staff–the effective chief of staff [Dominic Cummings] and the director of communications [Lee Cain]–had both left the building, or were about to leave the building, in pretty acrimonious circumstances, or what were potentially acrimonious circumstances. It was important for me to be there and to give reassurance.[1]
58. He added that “it was necessary to steady the ship. It was necessary to show there was no rancour, and the business of the Government was being carried on. That is what we had to do.”[2] He said: “I understand that people looking at that photograph will think that it looks like a social event. It was not a social event.”[3] He later said: “I had to accept that, even though it was, I believe, within the Guidance and within the Rules, members of the public looking at it will have thought, ‘That looks to me like something he’s not allowing us to do.’ I felt that very keenly–in retrospect. I didn’t feel it at the time.”[4]
59. Writing about events to mark the departure of staff in general, Mr Johnson stated:
My view has always been that thanking and encouraging staff, and maintain morale at No 10, was absolutely essential for work purposes. That is especially so in the midst of a crisis as serious as the Covid-19 pandemic. When we gathered occasionally to mark the departure of a colleague, it was my duty as the Prime Minister to say a few words of thanks. That is the job of any leader.[5]
60. Mr Johnson was asked “if you had been asked at a press conference, with your podium saying “Hands, face, space”, whether it was okay for organisations to hold unsocially distanced farewell gatherings in the workplace, what would you have said?” He replied, “I would have said that it is up to organisations, as the Guidance says, to decide how they are going to implement the Guidance. […] I would have said that the answer is that you should do what the Guidance says, and the Guidance says that where you put in mitigations, where you do what is possible, where you follow social distancing in a way that reflects the realities of your work space, that will be in compliance with the Guidance.”[6]
61. In summary, Mr Johnson has argued that he did not believe the gathering on 13 November breached the covid Rules or Guidance because (in relation to the Rules) he considered the gathering essential for work purposes in order to maintain staff morale; and (in relation to the Guidance), although he acknowledges that 2-metre social distancing was not being observed, the Guidance allowed for a lesser degree of distancing if the activity was critical for the continued operation of the business or organisation and all possible mitigating actions had been taken.
62. There is no doubt that neither 2-metre nor 1-metre distancing was being observed at the gathering. In our inspection of the Press Office vestibule we established that the room measures around 5 metres by 6 metres. With between 15 and 20 people present it
