Boris Johnson appears to have broken Covid laws, Keir Starmer has said after a picture emerged of the prime minister hosting a quiz for Downing Street staff last Christmas.

The Labour leader, who is also a former director of public prosecutions, said it was a “very serious” revelation and “hard to see” how Johnson’s attendance in a room with aides pictured wearing tinsel and a Santa hat was “compliant with the rules”.

However, the education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, dismissed the leaked photo, suggesting he thought it showed the reports of parties held in No 10 in defiance of lockdown and tier restrictions were overhyped.

Not all Tory MPs were convinced, though. Steve Baker, a senior Conservative backbencher, said despite assurances from Johnson that no social gatherings were held last year by senior government advisers, it was “pretty obvious now that hasn’t happened”.

Amid waning support from Tory MPs and in public opinion polls, the image that will put further pressure on Johnson shows him sitting with staff while not social distancing on 15 December 2020.

According to the Sunday Mirror, he joined the quiz halfway through and hosted one of the rounds, thanking staff for their work during the pandemic.

While Johnson presented the quiz virtually, No 10 staff reportedly huddled around computers to confer on answers and drank wine and beer.

London was in tier 2 at the time, meaning that while working together was permitted, mixing between households for social reasons was...

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