Boris Johnson has defended a picture of himself and Downing Street staff with cheese and wine in the No 10 garden at a time of tight restrictions on social gatherings.

       The prime minister insisted that the photograph taken on 15 May 2020 showed “people at work, talking about work”.

       The picture apparently taken from inside Downing Street showed 19 people – including Mr Johnson and wife Carrie – enjoying wine and cheese with little sign of social distancing and no notebooks or laptops in evidence.

       Confronted on Monday about what they were doing, Mr Johnson said: “Those were people at work, talking about work.”

       Asked if he normally has meetings with cheese and wine, the PM said: “These are meetings of people at work. This is where I live, it’s where I work. Those are meetings of people at work, talking about work.”

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       Mr Johnson’s explanation appeared to contradict comments made by his deputy prime minister Dominic Raab earlier on Monday. The senior cabinet minister suggested that the 15 May 2020 gathering was held “after” work had finished.

       Mr Raab also defended the event, insisting it complied with social mixing rules during the first lockdown because the Downing Street garden is “used for work meetings”. But the deputy PM admitted: “Sometimes they’ll have a drink after a long day or a long week.”

       The No 10 garden during lockdown last May likely broke Covid regulations, top legal expert Adam Wagner said on Monday.

       Adam Wagner, the human rights barrister and leading expert on Covid regulations, told Sky News: “Having heard Dominic Raab say that this was a drink after the formal business event had ended – it doesn’t sound convincing as a work gathering. It sounds a lot like a social gathering.”

       The barrister said Covid laws meant people were only allowed people to mix for work “where it could not reasonably be done at home”.

       Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said on Monday that it was “a real stretch to pretend that is a work meeting” – noting the photo leaked to The Guardian was taken during a period where people could not attend funerals of loved ones.

       “I think there are very serious questions to be answered,” said Sir Keir. “Just look at the photo and ask yourself is that a work meeting going on or is that a social event? I think the answer is pretty obvious.”

       Meanwhile, Mr Johnson has revealed that he is not immediately imposing any further Covid restrictions – but will not hesitate to do so if the data on the spread of omicron shows it is necessary.

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       The PM said that the arguments for and against going beyond the current Plan B curbs were still “finely balanced” after a two-hour emergency meeting of cabinet on Monday.

       “Unfortunately, I must say to people we will have to reserve the possibility of taking further action to protect the public and to protect public health and to protect our NHS, and we won’t hesitate to take that action,” he told broadcasters.