The National:

BORIS Johnson’s Tory government has been plunged into yet another crisis of its own making after a leaked email showed around 100 staff were invited to “bring your own booze” to a party at No 10 - while the rest of England was at the height of lockdown.

The party, which was reportedly attended by 30-40 people including the Prime Minister and his wife Carrie, has been confirmed by sources to multiple outlets including ITV and the BBC - and by Johnson’s ally-turned-enemy Dominic Cummings.

READ MORE: Leaked email reveals mass invite to 'BYOB' lockdown bash at No 10

Invites telling No 10 staff to “join us” in the garden to “make the most of the lovely weather” were sent out by Johnson’s principal private secretary, Martin Reynolds. It was held on May 20, 2020 at 6pm.

Here are five reasons why these latest “partygate” revelations are sending shockwaves across the UK.

ONE HUNDRED PEOPLE

The sheer scale of the Tory government’s disdain for the rules imposed on the general public has surely been laid bare by the invite to the May 2020 bash at No 10.

At a time when people were only allowed to meet one person from another household outdoors, the Prime Minister’s principal private secretary was inviting around 100 people to a party.

Media reports at the time were focused on the high numbers of people flocking to English beaches to enjoy the spell of fair weather. A BBC article on May 21 featured one “horrified” local saying: “Hundreds die every day yet people think it's OK to have a jolly.”

Norfolk Chief Constable Simon Bailey was quoted as saying there was “a sense that lockdown has been lifted, we can do what we want and the coronavirus challenge has passed”.

"I'm really concerned. That is simply not the case,” he said.

Apparently no-one had told Downing Street.

BORIS JOHNSON’S PREVIOUS STORYTELLING

The National: Boris Johnson

The latest addition to the partygate scandal comes a little late for Boris Johnson - given that he’s already reacted in outrage to news that there were lockdown-busting parties held on Downing Street in the run-up to Christmas 2020.

Quizzed about the parties in parliament, Johnson shifted the blame onto his staff, claiming he was “sickened and furious” to have learned about their behaviour.

He said: “I have been repeatedly assured that the rules were not broken … there will be consequences for those involved if the rules were broken.”

The Prime Minister later assured Labour leader Keir Starmer that he would hand “over everything that the Government knows about parties in Downing street to the Metropolitan Police”.

Amid the Christmas party allegations, Boris Johnson’s spokesperson insisted: “Covid rules have been followed at all times.

Reports have said that Johnson was not only aware of the May 20 party, he attended it himself.

THE GOVERNMENT’S HYPOCRISY

On May 20, 2020, the day the party was held, the UK Government gave a coronavirus briefing in which Oliver Dowden - the then culture secretary - told the public: "You can meet one person outside of your household in an outdoor, public place provided that you stay two metres apart.”

He also reported that 363 further people had died with the coronavirus, and that almost 10,000 were in hospital with the disease across the UK.

A slide shown by the government on that date (below) made clear the UK was at “Covid alert level four”, which meant cases could be “rising exponentially”.

The National:

Dowden told the public: “If everyone stays alert and follows the rules, we can control coronavirus… This is how we can continue to save lives.”

No-one at Downing Street was apparently watching that briefing, as they headed to the party less than one hour after it was broadcast.

The following day, then health secretary Matt Hancock warned that the UK was at risk of going “back to square one” because people were becoming blase about lockdown rules…

THE METROPOLITAN POLICE

The London police force - the largest in the UK - has repeatedly refused to investigate reports of lockdown-busting parties at Downing Street. It is now being sued over this lack of action.

However, it seems it is only parties held by the Tory government that the Met Police has no interest in.

Reports on May 29 announced that more than 17,000 fines for breaches of Covid rules had been handed out since the start of lockdown in March.

The London Met was the most trigger-happy force in the two nations, issuing more than 1000 fines.

What’s more, the force also issued a tweet on May 20, 2020 reminding people in London that they could meet outside with “one other person”.

The small print that went unpublished presumably said “unless you’re at No 10, in which case you can invite 100”.

DOMINIC CUMMINGS

The National: File photo dated 25/5/2020 of Dominic Cummings who claims that Boris Johnson's Downing Street is now a branch of the "entertainment industry", with a lack of serious focus on important issues. The Prime Minister's former chief aide used

One of the biggest - if not the biggest - scandal of the first lockdown was the news that Dominic Cummings, then the Prime Minister’s right-hand man, travelled hundreds of miles with coronavirus symptoms at the height of lockdown.

The news of the lockdown-flouting trip broke on May 22, 2020 - just two days after No 10 held its big bash.

The story was everywhere, dominating front pages for days. Reports said police had begun hearing excuses from the public that they were breaking rules as Dominic Cummings had done so.

Johnson, however, stood by his close ally and insisted that no rules had been broken.

Cummings’s knowledge of the Prime Minister having attended a lockdown-busting party just days earlier surely had nothing to do with it.

READ NEXT: Met Police sued over refusal to investigate lockdown-busting parties at No 10