British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in trouble after revelations that he attended a party at his residence during the coronavirus lockdown. After weeks of controversy, Johnson finally admitted being at the event held in the garden of 10 Downing Street in May 2020.
The Downing Street drinks party was reportedly attended by some 40 people in flagrant violation of Johnson’s own COVID rules at the height of the nationwide lockdown.
On Wednesday, Johnson apologized in the parliament for attending the “bring your own booze.” He offered “heartfelt apologies” amid jeers and laughter from the members of the opposition parties.
Several senior lawmakers of Johnson’s party came out against him, with the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Douglas Ross, asking him to quit over the controversy. “The leader of the Scottish Conservatives has demanded that Boris Johnson resign despite the prime minister’s apology for attending a Downing Street drinks party during the lockdown, The Times of London reported Wednesday. The BBC also noted that “Johnson is facing calls from senior Tories to resign after he admitted attending a drinks party during lockdown.”
The UK news channel Sky News reported Johnson’s apology and the ensuing outrage over the revelations:
Boris Johnson is facing demands from Conservatives to resign after he confessed to attending a Downing Street garden drinks party during the UK’s first national lockdown. (…)The calls for Mr Johnson to quit came after his House of Commons apology about the event failed to quell anger about the Downing Street “bring your own booze” bash on 20 May 2020. (…)At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday lunchtime, Mr Johnson admitted he went into the Number 10 garden “just after 6pm on 20 May 2020 to thank groups of staff” before going back into his office “25 minutes later”.The prime minister told MPs he had “learned enough” about multiple claims of lockdown-breaching parties in Downing Street “to know there were things we simply did not get right”.And he acknowledged the public “rage” about their sense that COVID rules were “not being properly followed by the people who make the rules”.
Sky News noted: “Since the pandemic began in early 2020, there have been several examples of politicians and officials breaking the rules and having to resign.”
The media reports commented on Johnson’s diminished support among the Conservative lawmakers in the parliament. “When he apologised for attending a lockdown-breaking party in the Downing Street garden in May 2020, Labour and the Scottish Nationalist Party heckled and sneered but his own MPs remained utterly still,” The Irish Times wrote.
Johnson, however, remains defiant and has vowed to stay in office despite mounting calls for him to resign. He has “decided to fight for his position on Wednesday afternoon and mobilised the cabinet to his defence, with ministers posting messages of support on social media,” the UK daily Independent commented. Johnson has a parliamentary majority of 80 seats, which he secured in the landslide victory on a pro-Brexit platform in the 2019 general election.
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