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Oris Johnson told MPs he “took full responsibility for everything that happened under my watch” while responding to Sue Gray’s report.
The 59-page document, released this morning, includes details of 16 alcohol events in Whitehall and Downing Street in violation of Covid’s laws.
Shows photos of Lee Cain’s confinement departure party in November 2020 when the Prime Minister toasted in front of a table strewn with half-empty bottles of alcohol.
Images of Boris Johnson’s surprise birthday party in June 2020 were also released in the document. Johnson, his wife Carrie and Chancellor Rishi Sunak were fined £ 50 for attending the event during the first national blockade. .
“Some of these meetings should not have been allowed to take place or unfold in the way they did,” Ms. Gray found. “There is significant learning to be learned from these events that must be addressed immediately by the entire government. This is not to be expected to lead to the conclusion of police investigations.”
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The statement of Mr. Johnson at the Commons will be followed by a press conference around 3:30 p.m.
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MP talks about a “lovely grandmother” dying alone during Partygate
A Labor MP has spoken out emotionally about letting his “lovely grandmother” die alone in hospital during Partygate while questioning Boris Johnson about the Gray report.
Slough MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi said: “I feel as if I was completely disappointed by those who dragged me with so much love. What did I let her die alone in that hospital?
“Why didn’t I attend my uncle’s funeral because of concern about government number restrictions? Why didn’t I go to comfort my brother-in-law’s father while he was dying in a Slough residence?
“With all this context, it is totally hypocritical for those people who preached to us even about patriotism, the flag and the queen, that these same people had night parties, including two the night before the queen sat alone during the funeral. of her husband when the country was in a state of national mourning. Absolutely shameless. “
The President of the Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, cut off the MP and told him that it was not normal to “take the monarch to a procedure”.
Boris Johnson replied: “I am very sorry for his loss and he has every right to speak with his passion. All I can say is that I take full responsibility for what happened, I do, and we have made great changes. . “
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Boris Johnson refuses to deny that he asked Gray to drop the report
Boris Johnson has refused to deny an allegation that asked Sue Gray to drop her Partygate investigation.
According to The Times, Johnson suggested in a meeting with the senior official that he should not publish the full report after the Met police concluded his investigation.
Asked by Newcastle-under-Lyme Conservative MP Aaron Bell if there was any truth in the report, Johnson replied: “What Sue Gray has published is totally for Sue Gray. It’s a completely independent report.”
A Downing St spokesman has previously denied that Johnson asked Gray to withdraw the report, insisting the couple only discussed the “process” at a meeting.
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Boris Johnson will give a press conference at 3:30 p.m.
The Prime Minister is expected to hold a press conference in Downing Street at 3:30 p.m.
Boris Johnson will address the public following the report’s findings and also answer questions from reporters.
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“Sir Beer Korma did not live up to the high standards he demanded of me,” he said.
Sir Keir Starmer does not stick to the same “high standards” that he “demanded of me,” the prime minister said.
In response to Labor leader Boris Johnson, he told the Commons: he mentioned, he himself is being investigated by the police.
“I will not sting my words, I will say this.
“Sir Beer Korma is not currently up to the same high standards that he demanded of me. He asked me to resign when the investigation began. Why is he in his place?”
Johnson added: “He is still there and so is the shadow deputy leader. I apologized when the revelations came up. number 10.
“But I think that given the mess he’s been in, it would be sensible now for him to apologize too so that we can all move forward collectively. I think that’s what the people of this country want. see above all. “
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Former Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick: This should not be a “stain” on the reputation of the civil service
Former Cabinet Secretary Robert Jenrick has said Sue Gray’s report should not be a “stain” on the public service’s reputation.
“With the challenges facing the country, isn’t it true that now is the time to turn the page?” he asked.
Boris Johnson replied, “I absolutely agree with him.”
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Tobias Ellwood: This is a compelling report on the lack of leadership and focus on number 10
Conservative MP and chairman of the Select Defense Committee, Tobias Ellwood, described Sue Gray’s findings as a “condemnatory report on the lack of leadership and focus on the number 10.”
He said: “I have made very clear my point and my position on the Prime Minister: he does not have my support.”
Then, asking his colleagues, he asked other Conservative MPs: “Are you willing, day after day, to publicly defend this behavior?
“Can we continue to govern without distractions?
“Can we win the general election in this current trajectory?”
“But my question to the Prime Minister is very clear, on the question of leadership: can you think of any other Prime Minister who would have allowed this culture of indiscipline to take place under his supervision and, if he had, he would not have done so? “Resigned?”
Boris Johnson, in his response, said: “I think the answer is overwhelming and forceful that yes, we will continue and win the next general election because we will continue with the work.”
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I take full responsibility for what happened: Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson has reiterated that he assumes “full responsibility” for what happened, and has been “humiliated” by the whole investigation.
He also thanked Sue Gray for making her report.
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“A fish rots on its head,” says Ian Blackford
Westminster SNP leader Sir Ian Blackford has called for Boris Johnson to resign.
He said Boris Johnson had adopted a “sinister evasion pattern” throughout Sue Gray’s investigation and had no honesty and ethics.
“You can move your head, but that’s the reality,” he said.
Without uttering his words, Blackford added: “The Prime Minister is ashamed of the office.”
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Boris Johnson: People want us to thank Sue Gray and move on
The Prime Minister accused Sir Keir Starmer of “snipping from the sidelines” during the pandemic.
“Today, Mr. President, you have done it again.”
Boris Johnson said at the time that the Labor leader “could have shown some common sense and acknowledged that when people work closely together day in and day out, it can be difficult to draw the line between work and socialization”.
He added: “He himself is under police investigation, Mr President.”
“He asked me to resign when the investigation began, at least he should be consistent and stick to the same rules.”
He asked Sir Keir to apologize and said the government was now focused on overcoming Covid’s “answers”.
“That’s what the people of this country want.”
“People want us to thank Sue Gray” and collectively “keep going.”
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Sir Keir Starmer: The government believed it was “a rule for them and another for everyone else”
Sir Keir Starmer has condemned the government’s “arrogance” as “believing it was the norm for them and the norm for everyone else”.
The Labor leader said that even after 126 fines, the number 10 believes it is the fault of others less than his own.
“They think that the fact that he only broke the law once is commendable,” he told lawmakers.
He also addressed the “leadership failure” mentioned in Sue Gray’s report, which he said was “totally embarrassing” in the context of the cost of living crisis.
Sir Keir then said: “I have not broken any rules,” but if the Durham police decide otherwise, “I will do the decent thing and leave the post.”
He said the British public needed to know that there was decency and honesty in politics.