British Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologizes for video of staff joking about Christmas party

“I sincerely apologize for the offense it has caused the country” Boris Johnson

London:

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologized on Wednesday after a video emerged showing his staff members laughing and joking about a Downing Street gathering during the COVID-19 lockdown last Christmas as the Such festivals are prohibited.

Prime Minister Johnson said he was furious when he saw the clip and that, since the allegations surfaced in the media, he was repeatedly assured that there was not a party.

“I sincerely apologize for the offense it has caused to the country and I apologize for the impression it has given,” he told parliament, adding that disciplinary action would be taken if discovered. rules that have been violated.

Johnson and his ministers have repeatedly denied any rules have been broken by gatherings at the end of 2020, although the Mirror said Johnson was speaking at a leave party and his team had a wine gathering with about 40 to 50 people.

But in a video broadcast by ITV, Allegra Stratton, who was then Johnson’s press secretary, was shown at a Downing Street rehearsal in 2020 to laugh and joke about the daily gathering.

In the video, a Johnson adviser asks Stratton: “I just saw reports on Twitter that there was a Christmas party in Downing Street on Friday night – do you recognize those reports?”

Stratton, standing in front of British flags at an official podium on Downing Street, chuckled and said: “I’m home.” Then she smiled and smiled.

“Wait. Hold on. Um. Er. Arh.” She seemed lost in words and looked up.

At the time of gatherings on Downing Street, tens of millions of people across the UK were barred from meeting family and close friends for the traditional Christmas celebrations – or even saying goodbye to dying loved ones. .

‘A SICK JOKE’

Reactions harshly to the video with many on Twitter expressing outrage that Downing Street appeared to be laughing for breaking the rules. Some questioned whether the public should follow Johnson if he imposes further COVID restrictions.

Nearly 146,000 people have died from COVID in the UK and Johnson is weighing whether stricter restrictions should be imposed following the discovery of the new Omicron coronavirus variant.

“A sick joke,” read the banner headline in the Daily Mail, Britain’s best-selling newspaper. “Party 10 clowns,” Metro said. The Guardian said: “The Prime Minister was accused of lying after Team 10 filmed a joke about the party.”

Johnson has faced fierce criticism in recent months for his handling of a horrific scandal, the awarding of lucrative COVID contracts, the refurbishment of his Downing Street apartment and the demand that he We sought to ensure livestock was evacuated from Kabul during the chaotic Western withdrawal.

Opposition Labor Party leader Keir Starmer said the video was an insult to those who had followed the no-door rules as it meant being separated from their families over Christmas.

“They have every right to expect the government to do the same. Lying and laughing at those lies is shameful,” Starmer said in a statement. “The prime minister now needs to come clean, and apologize.”

Ian Blackford of the Scottish National Party, the second-largest opposition party in parliament, has called for Johnson to step down.

Conservative lawmaker Roger Gale said that if the House of Commons deliberately misled the party it would be a matter of resignation.

(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)