Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner has said Boris Johnson’s position is “completely untenable” following allegations that he and his wife Carrie were among around 40 people present at a Downing Street garden drinks party at the height of the UK’s first national lockdown.

Ms Rayner told Sky News the prime minister has “not only broke the rules, but he’s lied to the British public” and said the fact Mr Johnson has not yet come forward to explain his account of the event “shows the measure of the man”.

The prime minister, who so far has avoided questions over the alleged “bring your own booze” event, will face the House of Commons at midday amid intense pressure from Conservative MPs and Tory donors.

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Both Conservatives and opposition MPs are demanding the prime minister confirms whether he attended a drinks gathering in the Downing Street garden on 20 May 2020.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for the PM to resign, saying he has “become a threat to the health of our nation”.

“Boris Johnson has broken the law and lied to parliament and the country, and he must now go,” the party’s leader Sir Ed Davey said in a statement.

Amid increasing public anger – with two opinion polls on Tuesday suggesting the public was turning on the PM – Wednesday’s PMQs is set to be one of the most important Commons moments of Mr Johnson’s political life.

A YouGov poll showed 56% of respondents believed Mr Johnson should resign over the fresh “partygate” allegations, with 27% saying he should remain.

And a Savanta ComRes study found 66% of British adults thought he should quit as prime minister, with 24% saying he should stay.

No government minister was made available for media interviews this morning, and Ms Rayner said it is “shameful” that the prime minister has so far avoided scrutiny about the latest Downing Street party allegations which have left the public “cheesed off”.

“I think it is shameful that Boris Johnson, over the last couple of days, hasn’t answered the central question – yes or no, were you at a party in 10 Downing Street when everyone else was in lockdown?,” she said.

“He could have cleared this up within the last couple of days. I took the question yesterday, the urgent question to parliament. His ministers didn’t turn up to parliament bar the unlucky one that got the short straw.

“And he has still not answered the question – so I think it is not surprising today that no one would turn up to answer it because, quite frankly, to anyone who lost a loved one, who was not able to visit them and see them in their dying hours, it is pretty despicable to find that they were partying at Number 10.”

Ms Rayner added: “It shows that he has not only broken the rules, but he has lied to the British public and I think that makes his position completely untenable.”

Downing Street has repeatedly refused to say if Mr Johnson was present at the May event, but Sky News understands he and his now wife were among around 40 people to attend at a time when such gatherings were banned.

Meanwhile, Labour has confirmed that Keir Starmer has recorded two negative lateral flow tests on day six and day seven of his COVID isolation period and will face Mr Johnson at PMQs at noon.

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