The Sunday Mirror has alleged that the DWP held illegal parties ‘all the time’ during lockdown, with alcohol and takeaway food. The DWP have denied that Therese Coffey, secretary of state for work and pensions, performed karaoke at any of these gatherings.
According to the newspaper, a core team of Coffey’s staff who have desks just outside her office door continued to go into work throughout the pandemic.
The paper says “gatherings' in Ms Coffey's office throughout the pandemic were an open secret, with one source saying "even during lockdown, there were parties all the time."
On one occasion it is alleged Coffey handed out Christmas presents to her staff.
The parties are alleged to have generally developed from staff meetings, when alcohol was produced and the gatherings would carry on into the small hours.
The Sunday Mirror claims that there are reports that Coffey regularly hosted late night karaoke sessions in her office before the pandemic.
The DWP told the Sunday Mirror there was “no karaoke” at the gatherings during the pandemic, but did not deny that late night drinking and mingling took place.
Coffey was famously videoed belting out ‘The Time of My life” at a conference party hours before cutting £20 from the benefits of millions of claimants.
