January 12, 2022 10.21 am This story is over 25 months old

Lincoln MP states he was not at Downing Street lockdown party

When asked it the PM still has his backing, he said “of course”

By Local Democracy Reporter

Karl McCartney, MP for Lincoln, has said he was not in attendance at alleged Downing Street parties during lockdown, and confirmed he still backs the Prime Minister as pressure continues to mount.

Speaking to BBC Radio Lincolnshire on Wednesday morning, the Lincoln Member of Parliament faced questions on the recent allegations of a “bring-your-own-booze” party held in the garden of 10 Downing Street in May 2020, during the first coronavirus lockdown.

A leaked email obtained by ITV News showed that around 100 people had been invited to the party, on the very same day that minister Oliver Dowden reminded the nation during government’s daily press briefing that they were only allowed to meet in pairs outdoors.

A petition was set up by Skegness woman Elissa Harper, calling for those who attended the lockdown parties to be ‘brought to justice‘, and it now has over 40,000 signatures.

Karl McCartney has responded to the uproar, saying: “I wasn’t at that party, so I couldn’t tell you who was, or who wasn’t at that party.

“There is an inquiry at this point in time, I do hope as Members of Parliament we’re not going to put any pressure on the particular person who is conducting that inquiry.”

He went on to say that he followed the government’s COVID-19 guidelines, despite voting against “various impositions on freedoms that we have in this country”, and was not invited to the alleged party on May 20, or “any other party”, including the recently alleged Christmas bashes at Downing Street.

You can listen to BBC Radio Lincolnshire’s full interview with Karl McCartney here.