The picture shows Boris Johnson with his wife Carrie and two others sitting at a table with cheese and wine.
London:
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday issued a “sincere apology” for attending a lockdown party held in his Downing Street garden, but deflected calls to step down because Opposition leaders called him a “shameless man”.
Breaking his silence on the latest spate of allegations involving top-level misconduct, Johnson said he considers the heated May 2020 gathering as a Downing Street employee work event .
He added that he doesn’t appreciate what it would look like for millions of Britons who are respecting Covid’s rules, even missing out on seeing their dying loved ones.
“And to them and to this House, I offer my sincerest apologies,” Johnson said during a lively question-and-answer session in the House of Commons.
Keir Starmer, leader of the main opposition Labor party, dismissed the apology as “worthless” and mocked Johnson for speaking out late after “months of lies and deception”.
“Does he want to do something nice and resign now?” Starmer said, first asked the head of the Conservatives and argued: “The prime minister is shameless.”
Even some on his side wanted Johnson to go, but in response to Starmer, he urged all parties to wait for the outcome of an internal investigation he had authorized by a senior civil servant.
There has been a flurry of allegations about Downing Street parties being held during the 2020 closures, which have led to Johnson’s arrest since late last year, sparking widespread public anger. and lower poll ratings.
Lisa Wilkie was forced to film her brother dying of Covid in the intensive care unit in May 2020, because her mother was not allowed to go to the hospital by law.
With tears in her eyes, Wilkie told the BBC: “People die by following the rules, and they broke those rules to have a bottle of wine.
‘Do the right thing’
The Prime Minister has been keeping the matter at bay since an email was leaked late on Monday in which a senior aide invited more than 100 colleagues to the event on 20 May 2020, encouraging them to ” Bring your own wine”.
According to unnamed witnesses cited in the media, both Johnson and his wife Carrie attended the gathering, fueling anger even among party colleagues.
“If the prime minister had purposely attended a party, I don’t see how he could have survived, having accepted his resignation at a much lower price,” Conservative lawmaker Nigel Mills told the BBC. before.
The event came as the government ordered members of the public not to meet, even outdoors, and tight restrictions were imposed on social inclusion, including at public gatherings. mourning.
Police at the time fined those who broke the rules and had the option of prosecuting repeat or serious violators.
Hannah Brady, whose father’s death certificate was signed on May 20, 2020, has written an open letter to other bereaved families. Johnson personally met, urged him to “do the right thing” and explain what had happened.
Low lying
Even the front pages of newspapers that normally support Johnson and the Tories are damned.
“End party for PM?” asked the Daily Mail top-selling newspaper, while the Daily Telegraph’s headline read: “Johnson loses Tory support.”
“It’s my party and I’ll lie down if I want to,” mocked The Sun.
Johnson had hoped to start the year fresh, leaving behind accusations of lockdown parties and separate claims of cronyism and corruption that contributed to his shock election defeat. Tories before Christmas.
Meanwhile, London’s Metropolitan Police said it had contacted the Cabinet Office about the May 2020 gathering, raising the possibility of a more serious crime investigation.
Ongoing Conservative lawmakers proved increasingly intolerable.
“How do you protect the force majeure? You can’t!” Tory MP Christian Wakeford tweeted Wednesday.
“It’s embarrassing and what’s worse is that it further erodes trust in politics when it’s already low.”
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
