An Italian newspaper claimed that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson enjoyed a secret jaunt to Perugia last weekend despite Brexit and coronavirus gripping the UK. Downing Street has since denied the claim.
Vacation during the pandemic
La Repubblica cites an official statement from the Umbrian airport dated September 17. According to the statement, Johnson traveled through in the last few days.
An alleged source from San Francesco d'Assisi airport told the newspaper that the Prime Minister landed on September 11 at around 2 pm.
Meanwhile, Downing Street told the Italian daily that the claim is wrong before releasing a statement regarding the story and saying that it is completely untrue.
On September 11, Johnson was faced with MPs preparing to rebel on his international law-breaking Brexit legislation and rising numbers of coronavirus infections across the United Kingdom. The PM and fiancee Carrie Symonds also reportedly baptized their son Wilfred that weekend.
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The Prime Minister has reportedly traveled to the airport before to visit his friend Evgeny Lebedev, the owner of the Evening Standard, at his medieval castle.
Lebedev is Russian-born, and his father is a former KGB operative. He is known for hosting lavish parties for celebrity guests at the Castello di Santa Eurasia.
According to one report, Johnson worked from Downing Street on the day in question, and he took part in a Zoom call with 256 Tory MPs on Brexit.
Johnson had tried to give a patriotic rallying cry to encourage his colleagues to back his controversial plans for the UK's withdrawal from the EU.
A source claimed that Johnson's connection had cut out during the Zoom call, and when he came back on he joked that he should probably invest in super-fast internet, according to Politics Home.
In 2019, it was reported that Johnson, during his time as Foreign Secretary, had been spotted at Perugia's airport looking disheveled in the clothes that he wore the night before.
A fellow passenger told The Guardian that Johnson appeared to be stumbling around and, at one point, looked as if he might vomit, inciting that he was drunk at that time.
There was no comment from Johnson's communications staff when the reports emerged last year about his behavior at the airport.
In August, Johnson nominated Lebedev for a life peerage for his services to the media industry and his philanthropic work. A spokesperson of Downing Street said that the story is completely untrue, adding that Johnson has not traveled to Italy in recent months.
Rule of six
The alleged "vacation" of the Prime Minister is a touchy subject since the UK has implemented the "rule of six" in which gatherings of more than six people are prohibited.
The rule limits the socializing and traveling of the people, and this is done due to the sudden increase of COVID-19 cases in the country.
Experts warned the government that putting the UK on lockdown again will hurt the economy, and it will take long before they can recover.
There are now almost 400,000 COVID-19 cases in the UK, with 41,788 recorded deaths.
