Under intense pressure on both sides of the house of commons, finally Boris Johnson has apologised after admitting that he attended a Downing Street garden drinks party during the first lockdown. The prime minister admit he had “learned enough to know there were things we simply did not get right”.
Responding to the prime minister’s admission, Sir Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party called for Mr Johnson to “do the decent thing and resign”, branding his defence as “so ridiculous that it is actually offensive to the British people”.
The prime minister admitted he “went into that garden just after 6pm on 20 May 2020 to thank groups of staff” before going back into his office “25 minutes later”.”I believed implicitly that this was a work event,” he told the Commons, adding that he “must take responsibility” for events that took place.
The PM continued: “With hindsight, I should have sent everyone back inside. I should have found some other way to thank them.”
The PM reiterated that it is a matter for Sue Gray, the senior civil servant investigating a series of reported parties in Downing Street and elsewhere in Whitehall over the course of 2020, to determine the exact details of what happened.
“I know that millions of people across this country have made extraordinary sacrifices over the last 18 months. I know the anguish they have been through – unable to mourn their relatives, unable to live their lives as they want or to do the things they love,” Mr Johnson told the Commons.
“I know the rage they feel with me and with the government I lead when they think in Downing Street itself the rules are not being properly followed by the people who make the rules.
“And though I cannot anticipate the conclusions of the current inquiry, I have learned enough to know there were things we simply did not get right and I must take responsibility.”
‘Clear breach of the ministerial code’
Boris Johnson’s actions is “a clear breach of the ministerial code”, Sir Keir said the prime minister is a “pathetic spectacle of a man who has run out of road”.
“The party is over prime minister,” the Labour leader continued, adding: “When the prime minister’s former health secretary broke the rules, he resigned and the prime minister said he was right to do so.
“When the prime minister’s spokesperson laughed about the rules being broken, she resigned and the prime minister accepted that resignation.
