Crime Files: Boris ‘Lockdown’ Johnson

We first heard the human-to-human transmission on the 20th of January 2020. This changed and altered the way we would operate for at least 2 years. The impact has continued into the long term for many. The one thing that grinds many people’s gears is how the Prime Minster, Boris Johnson (Boris) acted. During the time he made rules and people later found out he repeatedly broke them but those who were playing by the rules were having close members of the family dying alone or being poorly in hospital and they weren’t allowed to see them. That said it wasn’t just Boris who broke the rules, a lot of government officials did. The general public felt extremely afflicted as a result.

In this blog, we look at the COVID-19 timeline and what parties took place, what was fined and what was ignored but most importantly how the parties were found out by records. I’m not here to hit you on politics, this is solely about the records and evidence that came to light.

I thought my Donald Trump Timeline was meaty but this is another level. Do bear with me on this one, I promise it’s worth it. I have painstakingly put together the entire timeline. I found plenty of news sources that were making lists of timelines but there wasn’t one single timeline that I thought covered everything. Everything being Lockdowns, Parties, Vaccinations, Closures, Reopenning, Social Distancing, Laws, and then some. The U.K. had 325 COVID deaths per 100,000 citizens, one of the highest death rates in Western Europe.

COVID-19 Timeline

It’s a juicy timeline when you read it with a “Hang on, that happened before this happened?!” but one of the things that isn’t highlighted is all the records that were created so that we were able to look back. This includes how we found out about all the parties and what evidence was gathered – In this long timeline, I bring together the entire records of when all this came about.

As you read each of the entries in the timeline, think about how many records and documents were being created with the decisions that were made at every stage. The WHO Archives conserve more than 3 linear kilometres of documents which have acquired administrative, legal, historical and cultural value but COVID-19 was every organisation’s throughout the world.  With ‘2020 vision’ (pun intended), we can see the impact that records would have. If you get bored with the timeline, feel free to scroll further down for related records content related to COVID-19.

2019

• 1 December 2019 – A man in his 70s starts experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. He is later admitted to a hospital in Wuhan, China.

2020

• 20th January 2020 – The World Health Organisation [WHO] confirms human-to-human transfer of COVID-19.
• 23rd January 2020 – Wuhan and Hubei in China go into the first lockdown
• 30th January 2020: Two Chinese nationals staying at a hotel in York fall ill with the coronavirus which became the first case in the UK
• 5th March 2020: A woman in her 70s becomes the first person in the UK to die with COVID-19.
• 11th March 2020 – WHO classified COVID-19 as a global pandemic.
• 16th March 2020 – Boris says “Now is the time for everyone to stop non-essential contact and travel”
• 23rd March 2020 – Boris enforces the UK’s first lockdown over COVID-19 threat
• 25th March 2020 – Coronavirus Act 2020 gets Royal Assent
• 26th March 2020 – Clap for carers starts at 20:00
• 26th March 2020 – Lockdown measures legally come into force
• 27th March 2020 – Boris Johnson announced he had tested positive for coronavirus
• 5th April 2020 – Boris was unable to leave his self-isolation period after still suffering a temperature
• 7th April 2020 – Boris goes into intensive care
• 9th April 2020 – Boris leaves intensive care after receiving standard oxygen treatment. He wasn’t placed on a ventilator. Boris stays in hospital.
• 12th April 2020 – Boris leaves hospital and goes to Cheqeurs to recover.
• 16th April 2020 – Lockdown extended for “at least” three weeks. Government must be met before restrictions are eased
• 27th April 2020 – Boris returns to work
• 30th April 2020 – PM says “we are past the peak” of the pandemic
• 5th May 2020: The UK’s death toll surpasses 32,000, overtaking Italy’s as the highest in Europe.
• 10th May 2020 – PM announces a conditional plan for lifting the lockdown and says that people who cannot work from home should return to the workplace but avoid public transport
• 15th May 2020 – The first (that we know about) party takes place – Cheese and wine at Downing Street (Pictured – Source: Guardian/Eyevine)

• 20th May 2020 – “Bring your own booze” drinks were held in the Downing Street garden. Johnson’s secretary emailed approximately 200 staff to invite them. The invite was to “make the most of [the] lovely weather” and have some “socially distanced drinks” in the Downing Street garden. The email invites staff to attend from 6 p.m. Thirty to forty people attend, including Johnson for around half an hour.
• 28th May 2020 – Clap for carers final clap.
• 1st June 2020 – Phased re-opening of schools in England
• 13 June: A ‘support bubble’ scheme is announced. The scheme allows single-person households to meet and stay overnight with another household in England and Northern Ireland.
• 15th June 2020 – Non-essential shops reopen in England
• 18th June 2020 – Farewell gathering for no10 Private Secretary Hannah Young – this came about via emails that were circulated the day prior calling them “Drinks that aren’t drinks”. 25 people gathered in 10 Downing Street which begins with alcohol and speeches. At 7:40 p.m., the party then moved into Cabinet Office, where it lasts until 3:13 a.m. One individual vomits, and a fight breaks out between two others.
• 19th June 2020 – PM’s birthday where Boris is ‘Suprised by cake’ by his colleagues. A second gathering is arranged by the PM’s wife Carrie to take place in his flat.
• 23rd June 2020 – PM says UK’s “national hibernation” coming to an end. He announces relaxing of restrictions and 2m social distancing rule
• 29th June 2020 – Matt Hancock announces that the UK’s would be applied in Leicester and parts of Leicestershire
• 4th July 2020 – UK’s first local lockdown comes into force in Leicester and parts of Leicestershire. More restrictions were eased in England, including reopening pubs, restaurants, and hairdressers.
• 5th July 2020 – One-off clap for NHS that was arranged in line with the 72nd Anniversary of the NHS
• 18th July 2020 – Local authorities in England gain additional powers to enforce social distancing
• 3rd August 2020 – Eat Out to Help Out 50% discount on meals up to £10 per person begins
• 14th August 2020 – Lockdown restrictions eased further, including reopening indoor theatres, bowling alleys and soft play
• 14th September 2020 – Rule of six’ – indoor and outdoor social gatherings above six were banned in England
• 22nd September 2020 – PM announces new restrictions in England. This includes a return to working from home and 10 pm curfew for the hospitality sector
• 30th September 2020 – PM says the UK is at a “critical moment” in the crisis. He said he would “not hesitate” to impose further restrictions if needed.
• 14th October 2020 – A new three-tier system of Covid-19 restrictions starts in England
• 31st October 2020 – PM announces a second lockdown in England to prevent a “medical and moral disaster” for the NHS
• 5th November 2020 – Second national lockdown comes into force in England
• 13th November 2020 – Dominic Cummings leaves Downing Street with celebratory drinks & Lee Cain’s leaving drinks party
• 24th November 2020 – PM announces up to three households will be able to meet up during a period of 23 to 27 December 2020
• 27th November 2020 – Aide Cleo Watson’s leaving drinks
• 2nd December 2020 – The second lockdown ends after four weeks and England returns to a stricter three-tier system of restrictions
• 8th December 2020: Vaccination rollout begins – appointments available for Residents in a care home for older adults and their carers; and all aged 80 and over.
• 10th December 2020: Thank-you drinks
• 14th December 2020: Conservative HQ Party (Pictured)

• 15th December 2020 – ‘Virtual Quiz’ (Pictured) & PM says Christmas rules will still be relaxed but urges the public to keep celebrations “short” and “small”

• 16th December 2020: Transport party
• 17th December 2020: Leaving drinks
• 18th December 2020: Stratton caught on video and the infamous Christmas Party that led to Stratton’s resignation.
• 19th December 2020: PM announces tougher restrictions for London and South East England, ‘Stay at Home’ alert level. Christmas mixing rules tightened.
• 21st December 2020 – Boris cancels Christmas despite claiming It would be ‘inhuman’ just days earlier. Tier 4 restrictions come into force in London and South East England.
• 26th December 2020 – More areas of England

2021

• 4th January 2021 – Schools reopen
• 5th January 2021 – The UK records over 60,000 positive cases of COVID in one day, the highest ever. Schools are then closed again.
• 9th January 2021 – Appointments available for Frontline health and social care workers vaccinations
• 12th January 2021 – Home Secretary urges people to “play [their] part” in following COVID rules, backing the police in enforcing them.
• 14th January 2021: Farewell drinks
• 18th January 2021: Appointments available for all aged 70 and over, and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals of any age
• 15th February 2021 – Vaccination appointments available for those aged 65 and over; and those aged 16 to 64 with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality
• 1st March 2021 – Appointments available for all aged 60 and over, by the 13th April anyone over the age of 45 and over were able to get vaccinations
• 16th April 2021: 2 x Parties on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral
• 26th April 2021 – The appointments start being made available for 44 and over, every week more age categories were allowed to book.
• 18th June 2021 – Appointments were made available for anyone over 18 i.e. All adults in England and Wales were able to get a vaccination.
• 10th December 2021 – Downing Street lockdown parties first published. Boris claimed no rules were broken, before admitting to attend No 10 party.

2022

• 27th January 2022 – The Government scrapped the requirement for people in England to wear face coverings on public transport.
• 31st January 2022 – Gray’s full report was put on hold whilst The Met investigated and a short ‘update’ was published on 31 January 2022.
• 4th February 2022 – People who test positive for COVID will no longer be bound by law to self-isolate Adults and children who have the virus will be advised to self-isolate – but this won’t be a legal requirement. Vaccinated contacts of people who have tested positive will no longer be asked to do daily lateral flow tests for seven days. Contact tracing will end. Support payments for people who would have previously self-isolated with COVID will end. Businesses will no longer be legally required to tell staff to self-isolate if they have COVID-19.
• 19th May 2022 – the Met Police announced it had completed its inquiries and had issued 126 fixed penalty notices to 83 people. Of the 12 gatherings investigated, fines were issued for eight of them. 
• 25th May 2022 – Sue Gray’s full report was published.

2023

• 9th May 2023 – World Health Organisation (WHO) experts have officially declared that COVID no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (Pheic). This coincides with the WHO’s new strategy to transition from an emergency response to longer-term sustained COVID disease management.

As you can imagine, this timeline alone is quite a spectacle but we have more to consider.

Sue Gray Report

The first thing on my lips was ‘but why Sue Gray?” and it turns out the original lead would have been Simon XXX but since his team was leaked to have had a ‘Transport Party’ it was transferred to Sue Gray as second senior Permanent Secretary.

During Gray’s report it was noted that the Metropolitan Police (Met) were not going to investigate 4 events that happened at No10. These were not investigated as they “did not meet the threshold for criminal investigation”.It’s something to consider that even when there is a record of an event, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will be investigated.

I have to admit I’d love to see the investigation records on what qualified some of the parties to not be worth investigating as I’m baffled by one of them specifically that was the Conservative Party at HQ in Westminster in which it was deemed not enough evidence, but there’s a picture of the event taking place indoors in close contact over more than 20 people. The rules in place at the time was in London banned two or more people from different households from meeting indoors, unless “reasonably necessary” for work purposes. THere’s so many records available to show how many attended from CCTV to Door Pass access, to just the picture itself.

Met Police and Partygate

The investigation saw 12 detectives work through 345 documents, including emails, door logs, diary entries and witness statements, 510 photographs and CCTV images and 204 questionnaires.

The 126 fines were issued to 83 different people, the Met said. There were 53 FPNs issued to 35 men and 73 to 48 women, meaning 28 people received between two and five penalties.

Partygate Timeline

Alongside not finding a timeline of all events, I also found that there was no one true list of all the parties (that were leaked) that had all the details people wanted to know. So here it is:

Speculation

As often shouted by lawyers “Objection: Speculation”. I can’t help but wonder if there were more parties. The only reason why we know about these is because the pictures or emails that evidence it happening. In Sue Gray’s report alone, there were 9 photos from the 16 different events. However, the lack of evidence and records means It doesn’t account for ones that spread via mouth and just didn’t get highlighted or ones whose emails went to people who didn’t report them. So we won’t ever really know, but we have good old records to at least hold the government to some sort of accountability.

COVID-19 Records that were more important than parties

The conclusion on the records that supported COVID-19 research and understanding can be summarised as follows:

1. Epidemiological Data:
   • – Comprehensive data on infection rates, transmission dynamics, and case demographics helped in understanding the spread and impact of the virus.
   • – Data from different regions and populations provided insights into factors influencing the spread, including population density, mobility patterns, and social behaviours.
2. Genomic Sequencing:
   • – Sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 genome was crucial in identifying and tracking different variants of the virus.It facilitated the understanding of mutations and their implications on transmissibility, virulence, and vaccine efficacy.
3. Clinical Records:
   • – Detailed patient records, including symptoms, disease progression, and outcomes, were essential for identifying risk factors and effective treatment protocols.
   • Data on comorbidities and demographic factors such as age, gender, and pre-existing conditions informed public health strategies and resource allocation.
4. Vaccine Development and Efficacy Studies:
   • – Clinical trial data and post-authorisation surveillance data supported the rapid development and deployment of effective vaccines.
   • – Studies on vaccine efficacy, safety, and real-world effectiveness provided critical information for vaccination campaigns and booster dose recommendations.
5. Public Health Interventions:
   • – Records of public health measures, such as lockdowns, mask mandates, and social distancing, allowed for the evaluation of their effectiveness in controlling the spread of COVID-19. Data on compliance and public perception helped tailor communication and enforcement strategies.
6. Global Collaboration:
   • – The sharing of research findings across borders enhanced the global response to the pandemic.
   • – Initiatives like the WHO COVID-19 database and platforms for data sharing accelerated scientific discoveries and policy-making.
7. Healthcare System Data:
   • – Information on hospitalisations, ICU capacity, and healthcare workforce availability informed responses to surges in cases and resource allocation. Analysis of healthcare system strain and responses guided improvements in healthcare infrastructure and emergency preparedness.
8. Socioeconomic Impact Studies:
   • – Records on the socioeconomic impact of the pandemic, including job losses, economic downturns, and mental health effects, highlighted the need for comprehensive support measures. These studies informed government policies on economic relief, mental health services, and support for vulnerable populations but it wasn’t just the governments capturing this kind of data, the likes of Excluded UK too.

Conclusion

Overall, the records supporting COVID-19 research provided a robust foundation for understanding the virus, developing and deploying vaccines, implementing public health measures, and mitigating the pandemic’s impact on society. The integration of diverse data sources and international cooperation was key to the rapid and effective response to the global health crisis and it got a bunch of government officials and civil servants into a lot of hot water.

If you haven’t yet enjoyed my Trump post with timelines but if you liked this one, it’s worth a read. Watch out Putin, RMGirl’s Crime Files is coming for you next.