LONDON • Britain has defended its arrangements for the Group of Seven (G-7) summit after photos emerged of world leaders crowding together for a beach barbecue despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
When grilled by Sky News' Trevor Phillips in an interview on Sunday over the seeming disregard for social distancing rules, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: "It's outside, it's very well ventilated on the beach.
"In terms of the checks that have been done - the daily checks for Covid-19, the precautions, the slimlined delegations - we have taken every measure possible to make sure this is not just Covid-19 secure but able to take place."
Featuring a sea shanty band and toasted marshmallows, last Saturday night's event at Carbis Bay in Cornwall was closed to the media.
Under coronavirus restrictions which applied to England as of Saturday, outdoor gatherings are not allowed to exceed 30 people, unless covered by a legal exemption, such as for the purposes of work or volunteering.
But photos showed that the glitzy beach party had more than 30 people, including staff who were wearing masks.
When Mr Phillips pointed out the discrepancy in the application of the 30-person rule between the leaders' dinner and other social gatherings, Mr Raab said: "In fairness, there have always been different principles for social entertainment or weddings than for government business."
"Those rules have been the same all along," he added.
A Downing Street spokesman on Sunday denied that the world leaders had broken Covid-19 rules and said Prime Minister Boris Johnson, US President Joe Biden and other leaders behaved in a "Covid-secure way".
Only 30 people were allowed into the barbecue area, said the spokesman, according to Metro.
G-7 leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the US met over the weekend at the picturesque seaside resort in south-west England for their first summit in nearly two years, after the global coronavirus pandemic forced last year's event to be cancelled.
They were joined by their counterparts from the European Union, and invited guests from Australia, India, South Korea and South Africa. But India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi took part virtually because of the rapid spread of a new variant of the virus back home.
All leaders at the three-day meeting that ended on Sunday have been at least partially vaccinated against Covid-19, according to Agence France-Presse.
Summit participants, including country delegation members and journalists, had to undergo regular screening two days before the event started.
They were then tested twice the following week.
