15 May 2020; a photograph showing a number of groups in the garden of No 10 Downing Street
Extracts of regulations and guidance
On 26 March 2020 restrictions on leaving one's home without a reasonable excuse, first announced on 23 March, came into legal effect in England. Very limited justifications permitted travel to work where it was not reasonably possible to work from home. Participating in a gathering of more than two persons in public was prohibited except here the gathering as "essential for work purposes".
On 13 May 2020 some restrictions were relaxed to allow meetings outdoors for exercise or recreation with one person from another household. Guidance encouraged those who could not work from home to go back to work. At work, social distancing guidance applied, with workplaces required "to maintain 2m social distancing wherever possible, including while arriving at and departing from work, while in work and when travelling between sites". Leaving or being outside one's home without a reasonable excuse continued to be prohibited.
The event
On 15 May 2020 in the early evening a number of people gathered in the No 10 garden. The individuals were divided into groups of varying sizes, with some standing on the grass and two other groups seated at tables on the terrace. A photograph of these groups was subsequently published in the Guardian newspaper on 19 December 2021. As explained by those interviewed as part of the investigation, this gathering was actually a number of separate meetings.
The largest group pictured was made up of the then Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, No 10 and DHSC officials and special advisers who had convened at around 18.00 following a press conference which had just taken place in Downing Street. Wine is visible on the table and some individuals drank alcohol. Two other No 10 officials are pictured separately on the grass. Both groups were discussing the press conference. The Secretary of State left at approximately 18.25.
At a table on the terrace, the Prime Minister, Martin Reynolds (his Principal Private Secretary), and Dominic Cummings (his senior adviser) were continuing a lengthy meeting that had started in the Prime Minister s office, before moving to the garden at around 18.00. The Prime Minister brought cheese and wine from his flat. The outdoor part of the meeting lasted for 40 minutes to an hour and they were briefly joined by the Prime Minister's wife, during which time the photograph was taken. Martin Reynolds subsequently returned to the office to continue working. The Prime Minister remained in the garden until around 19.20.
