British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has admitted to attending a garden party at his Downing Street residence during a coronavirus lockdown in May 2020, in breach of his government’s own pandemic rules.
Addressing the United Kingdom’s Parliament on Wednesday, Johnson said he wanted to “apologise” to the British people for his actions but deflected opposition demands for his resignation.
“I know the rage they feel with me over the government I lead when they think that in Downing Street itself the rules are not being properly followed by the people who make the rules,” he told the House of Commons during his weekly Prime Minister’s Questions session.
Johnson, who won a landslide 2019 election victory for the Conservative Party on a promise to secure the UK’s exit from the European Union, said he regretted his actions but had thought at the time that the May 20 gathering was a work event.
He added that he had entered the Downing Street garden to thank his members of staff before returning to his office 25 minutes later. He said that in hindsight, he should have demanded the event be stopped.
About 40 people reportedly attended the party, including Johnson’s wife Carrie, after an invitation to the “socially distanced drinks” gathering was emailed to about 100 people by a senior prime ministerial aide.
At the time, schools were shut to most pupils, pubs and restaurants were closed, and there were strict controls on social mixing under the UK’s lockdown rules.
Two people from different households were allowed to meet outdoors but only if they maintained a distance of 2 metres (6.5 feet).
Johnson ‘on the ropes’
Opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said Johnson’s statement was “the pathetic spectacle of a man who has run out of road” and “offensive to the British public”.
“Will he accept that the party is over and decide to resign?” Starmer asked in Parliament.
Johnson rebuffed the call to step down and instead urged people to await the conclusions of an investigation being carried out by senior civil servant Sue Gray into several alleged parties held by government staff in breach of COVID-19 rules. Gray is due to report her findings by the end of the month.
Al Jazeera’s Nadim Baba, reporting from outside Parliament in London, said Johnson was “on the ropes like never before” after admitting to violating his government’s own virus restrictions.
“People are saying that the prime minister’s actions and the way that he’s handled these accusations has undermined the public’s trust in his ability to guide them through and out of the pandemic – of setting the rules and being seen to follow them,” he said.
“Boris Johnson knows that his standing among the British public is at an all-time low.”
Johnson, whose premiership has been tarnished by several other controversies including a scandal over a costly refurbishment of his private Downing Street apartment and persistent allegations of ministerial corruption under his watch, has seen his popularity plummet in recent months.
The Conservatives have lost their lead in public opinion polls over Labour and in December suffered a stinging election defeat in a historic stronghold, fuelling speculation the party’s parliamentarians may be readying a bid to try and remove Johnson as leader.
Meanwhile, the UK’s official death toll from the pandemic continues to rise as infections surge, soaring above the 150,000 mark in recent days to make it the second-highest in Europe, behind only Russia’s.
