The Sky News presenter Adam Boulton has warned that the row over a breach of coronavirus restrictions by his colleague Kay Burley has raised concerns over “the credibility of our journalism”. With executives at the broadcaster weighing their decision over what sanctions are merited by the actions of Burley and three colleagues who attended her 60th birthday party last weekend, Boulton retweeted several posts about the story on Wednesday, including one that read: “Look at the state of Sky News. The morons spent all summer preaching to us and now look at them!” Speaking to the Guardian, Boulton noted that his retweets did not necessarily constitute endorsements. But he went on: “That said, I retweet things because I think they’re of public interest, and certainly my feed has reflected a lot of people who are very concerned about the credibility of Sky News, and that I think is the important issue: the credibility of our journalism.” The intervention from the station’s editor-at-large and former political editor is the first significant comment on the situation from a senior broadcaster at Sky News, where executives have been considering how to deal with the fallout from Burley’s celebrations since Monday. Boulton said: “My view is that Sky has worked very hard during the whole Covid crisis and has taken a very clear line about public safety, and obviously something like this perhaps underlines [the importance of] that.” And he noted that he believed the matter to be “of widespread concern” to colleagues at the station. His concerns about credibility will be viewed as a reference to its role in holding public figures to account over their conduct during the crisis. Burley herself has been a stern interrogator of politicians who have been perceived as making excuses over lockdown breaches this year. At an all-hands meeting on Wednesday also covering a range of more routine issues, the head of Sky News, John Ryley, read out the statement the company put out on Monday expressing “disappointment” and noting that a review was under way. Burley and her colleagues Beth Rigby, Inzamam Rashid and Sam Washington have all been taken off air during discussions over what sanctions will be imposed. On Tuesday, Burley was withdrawn from consideration for a prestigious TV award, while two of the group signed non-disclosure agreements as Sky sought to limit damage from the row. With photographs of the group in soho emerging on Wednesday, several more-junior staff said there was a mood of impatience for clarity over what will happen next. “The situation is just excruciating,” one producer said. “The longer it goes on, the worse it gets and the harder it is to see this ending without serious punishment.” Boulton noted that he viewed Burley as a “remarkable” journalist who deserved her success on the station. And he added: “Whatever happens next is not my decision and obviously it’s not up to me to criticise colleagues.” Nonetheless, his comments will be viewed with alarm by executives hoping to keep staff concerns under wraps until they reach a decision, which is expected to be this week. There has been no mention of the situation on air. Burley herself deleted a tweet saying she was going on holiday on Friday to go “sit with lions”, adding: “They kill for food, not sport” – a possible reference to the media coverage of the situation. The group celebrating Burley’s birthday began their evening on Saturday at the Century Club in Soho, London, sitting at tables of six and four before going on to a nearby restaurant, Folie. A group of four then returned to Burley’s home to continue the celebrations. Burley apologised for the breach in a tweet in which she claimed she had broken tier 2 rules because she was “desperate for the loo” while waiting for a taxi to get home. But the claim that a group went on to her house is not believed to be in dispute. In May, she conducted a widely shared interview with the Cabinet Office minister, Michael Gove, about the Dominic Cummings affair, repeatedly asking him to clarify what the government advice would be for a member of the public “struggling with Covid-19 and you think you’ve got a problem with your eyesight”, in reference to Cummings’ explanation of his trip to Barnard Castle.