London (CNN) British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's press chief gave out joke awards and made a thank you speech at a Downing Street party on December 18 last year while London was under strict lockdown, according to CNN affiliate ITV. Jack Doyle, who was Johnson's deputy director of communications at the time, addressed a gathering of "up to 50 people," and handed out certificates to staff members of the communications team, ITV reported. For the past week, Johnson has been buffeted by multiple claims that social events were held inside 10 Downing Street in the runup to Christmas 2020, when the United Kingdom was under stringent coronavirus regulations that outlawed such activities. CNN contacted Downing Street and Doyle independently for comment on the latest reports. However, both replied saying "there is an ongoing review, and we won't be commenting further while that is the case."

Source: CNN December 11, 2021 02:19 UTC