Prime minister Boris Johnson was grilled by MPs in the House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon, after he was fined by the police for having broken his own lockdown laws.
Johnson apologised multiple times in the chamber but maintained that he did not intentionally breach Covid rules and denied misleading Parliament over Partygate.
Quizzed back in December 2021 about an event that allegedly took place in Downing Street on December 18, 2020, Johnson informed the Commons at the time that all Covid rules were “followed completely in Number 10” at “all times” and that he had been “repeatedly assured” by Downing Street staff that “no Covid rules were broken”.
The PM separately apologised back in January this year for having attended a party in the garden at Downing Street in May 2020 which he claimed to have “believed implicitly” to be a work event.
The event that Johnson was fined for took place in the Cabinet Room of Number 10 in June 2020 and is said to be a small gathering that took place briefly for the PM’s birthday. It saw him become the first serving UK prime minister to be sanctioned for breaking the law.
Johnson told MPs: “It did not occur to me then or subsequently that a gathering in the Cabinet Room just before a vital meeting on Covid strategy could amount to a breach of the rules.
“I repeat that was my mistake and I apologise for it unreservedly.
“I respect the outcome of the police investigation, which is still under way, and I can only say that I will respect their decision-making and always take the appropriate steps.”
Despite Johnson’s insistence that he had not intentionally broken the rules and his repeated apologies to the chamber, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called his explanation and apology “mealy-mouthed”, “a joke” and “absurd”, adding that he had damaged public trust in the political class.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey and the SNP’s leader in Westminster, Ian Blackford, also hammered the PM with criticism. The former said that it was “profoundly damaging” for a “man the public no longer trust” to lead the country, while the latter called Johnson a “serial offender” and said that he “would resign” if he had “any decency, any dignity”.
Conservative chief whip Mark Harper also called on Johnson to resign, calling his actions “indefensible” and confirming that he had submitted a letter of no confidence in the PM’s leadership to the 1922 Committee.
Should 54 letters of no confidence be submitted to the committee chair, Sir Graham Brady, it would trigger a leadership contest within the Conservative party. The total number of no confidence letters submitted to date is unknown, and it will only be disclosed if the threshold of 54 is reached.
However, most backbench Conservatives and other ministers showed support to the prime minister during his Commons address.
The support of most of his fellow Tories is likely to prove critical to Johnson’s immediate future, after Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle granted a vote on Thursday as to whether the Privileges Committee should launch a probe into whether the PM deliberately misled the House.
Government rules state that ministers are expected to resign if they intentionally mislead Parliament. Should an inquiry be ordered and find that Johnson is guilty, then they could recommend that sanctions are issued upon the PM, including a suspension or expulsion from Parliament.
But with most Conservatives behind the PM, Thursdays vote will likely result in an inquiry not being ordered.
The BBC reports that Tory whips are waiting for the Labour motion to refer the PM to the Privileges Committee over Partygate before deciding on their next move.
Image taken from Wikimedia Commons
