The Deputy Prime Minister, Dominic Raab, has claimed that a gathering held in the Downing Street garden during the first lockdown was "not against regulations".

The Guardian newspaper had revealed a photograph showing the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, his then-fiancee Carrie, along with 17 other staff members with bottles of wine and a cheeseboard on a table. This photograph was taken on May 15th 2020 during the first lockdown.

Raab claims that he considers the Downing Street garden as a "place of work" where staff would sometimes have a drink after work. Raab said: "Downing Street used that garden as a place of work. They used it for work meetings. The photo is from a day when, I think, the Prime Minister had just done a press conference. And sometimes they'll have a drink after a long day or a long week. And that's not against the regulations."

Carrie was not considered staff. Raab defended her presence at the gathering: "It is not just a place of work for all the staff that work in Number 10 and the Prime Minister, but it is also the residence of the Prime Minister and his very young family. I genuinely don't think it gets classified as a party because Carrie popped down and spent a little bit of time there with her husband."

At the time the photo was taken, though, restrictions on meeting others were still in place and earlier that day, then-health secretary Matt Hancock had told the daily coronavirus briefing: "People can now spend time outdoors and exercise as often as you like – and you can meet one other person from outside your household in an outdoor, public place. But please keep two metres apart."

Legal expert thinks there could have been a breach of COVID regulations

Speaking to Sky News, Adam Wagner, a leading expert on Covid regulations said the "meeting" may have breached COVID rules. He highlighted the fact that there were drinks after a formal business event had ended; saying it didn't sound convincing as a work gathering but rather a social gathering.

He added that Covid laws meant people were only allowed to mix for work "where it could not be reasonably done at home".

Through his observation, he noted that it seemed quite an obvious social gathering, which weren't permitted at the time.

Condemning the meeting, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said it was "a real stretch to pretend that is a work meeting". He also contrasted that leaked to The Guardian was taken during a period when people could not attend funerals of loved ones.

No 10 officials have suggested that the photograph was taken inside No 11 from the offices used by chancellor Rishi Sunak's team.