Having dinner outside of the rules with a large number of people is a breach of the regulations, she said. There are fixed penalty notices. I don t know the details as to where this happened or the location, but I m sure, as it is a breach, that will be followed up.
Mr Ellwood apologised yesterday after it emerged he gave a speech at the Cavalry and Guards Club in Piccadilly hours before London entered Tier 3 for the first time.
The chairman of the Commons Defence Committee insisted that the Iraq Britain Business Council event was fully Covid compliant and was permitted because he attended for business purposes.
Priti Patel accuses Tory MP Tobias Ellwood of egregious breach of Covid rules after he went to a Christmas party at a posh London club after warning festive gatherings could spark a deadly third wave - as he apologises for well-intentioned attendance
Tobias Ellwood gave a speech at a formal dinner in Piccadilly earlier this week
The Commons defence committee chairman insists it was a business meeting
The Iraq Britain Business Council described the occasion as a Christmas party
Home Secretary Priti Patel has accused a Tory MP of breaching coronavirus rules by attending a Christmas dinner for 27 guests.
Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the Commons Defence Committee, apologised on Thursday after it emerged he gave a speech at the Cavalry and Guards Club in Piccadilly hours before London entered Tier 3.
The Bournemouth East MP argued the Iraq Britain Business Council event, described on the organisers’ website as a “Christmas party”, was “fully Covid compliant” and he said he attended for business purposes as permitted under Tier 2 rules.
But, in comments backed by Downing Street, his Conservative colleague Ms Patel suggested he could face a fine for his attendance at Tuesday’s event.
When is a Christmas party not a Christmas party? The man to ask is the Tory MP Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the Commons defence committee.
As the Mail revealed yesterday, Mr Ellwood went to a gathering at London s Cavalry and Guards Club on Tuesday, where 26 other people were in attendance. He insists it was a business meeting , with not a Christmas cracker in sight.
Yet the organisers, the Iraq Britain Business Council, billed it very explicitly as a Christmas party – which would mean the Bournemouth MP was in flagrant breach of the Covid guidelines.
So which was it? I don t know about you, but if I was invited to a Christmas party and arrived to find people discussing international foreign policy and security matters , as Mr Ellwood claims, I d be on the first train home.