Any members of staff at the Strand co-op not abreast of the news won’t know what’s hit them this morning. One detail from last night’s Telegraph partygate exclusive was that No. 10 staff, mid-party, had headed to get reserve booze supplies from the Co-op on the Strand, thus – in the words of Sky’s Rob Powell – making the Trafalgar supermarket branch the “Woking Pizza Express of this whole affair”. 

The Guardian’s Jim Waterson has already inquired how late the alcohol licence is for the store, “asking for a friend with a suitcase”, with ‘Cat’ replying from the official supermarket Twitter account that “Good news – it 24 hours.” Contrary to the Co-op’s claim however, Sky’s Sam Coates turned up at 9.24 to find booze not available for purchase.

Ummm @coopuk - 9:46am but the suitcase would be empty pic.twitter.com/mpDtDstdJH

— Sam Coates Sky (@SamCoatesSky) January 14, 2022

In another tweet, Cat from the Co-Op confirmed that only compostable bags are available, it’s “bring your own suitcase”…