'Wine time Fridays' leave British PM with new hangover

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson witnessed weekly drinking sessions by his staff throughout the pandemic, according to a report Saturday that stoked fresh calls from his own party for the embattled leader to quit.

Conservative MPs, many of whom were spending the weekend back in their home constituencies, say they are being deluged with messages from voters outraged at accounts of rule-breaking in Downing Street.

Johnson himself was spending the weekend in self-isolation, after a family member tested positive for Covid. The opposition Labour party said he was "literally hiding" and should resign.

Whether Johnson and his staff knowingly broke the law during Covid lockdowns is the central question being addressed in an inquiry by senior civil servant Sue Grey, who could report back next week. 

After weeks of denials and stonewalling, Johnson this week apologised in parliament for at least one boozy event organised by his staff which he attended in May 2020, when Britons were banned from socialising.

Two other parties were held in April 2021 as Queen Elizabeth II prepared to bury Prince Philip, her husband of 73 years. Downing Street sent apologies to Buckingham Palace, calling them "deeply regrettable".

But those were not isolated events, according to Saturday's Daily Mirror, which published a photograph of a wine cooler being delivered to a Downing Street back door in December 2020.

It said staff would stock the fridge with suitcase-loads of alcohol, and Johnson would often drop by to their "Wine time Fridays".