Johnson still believes he broke no rules

LONdON: Boris Johnson is “determined” to fight on and still does not believe that he broke any lockdown rules as he braces himself for Sue Gray’s imminent verdict on parties in Downing Street.

The senior civil servant’s report on a series of allegations about rule-breaking in Downing Street during periods of severe coronavirus restrictions is expected to be published this week.

It could prove decisive in determining the fate of Mr Johnson’s faltering premiership, and he is drawing up plans to “own the narrative”.

“He’s feeling determined,” one loyal MP said. “He genuinely believes that he didn’t break any rules and that he was going to the garden (on May 20, 2020) to say thank you.”

The PM’s inner circle is preparing to argue that whatever Ms Gray’s findings it would be “disproportionate” for him to resign. “Clearly there was a culture and clearly that culture was wrong,” one ally said. “But the prime minister was not in No 10 for many of these events, he didn’t know about them ...

“Are we really going to ask the prime minister to resign because some people organised a party that he didn’t know about? It’s an argument about proportion.”

Relatively few voters are waiting to read the Gray report to form a view of the issue, according to polling by YouGov. Fifty-one per cent believe Mr Johnson should resign whatever the report says, including 26 per cent of people who voted Conservative in 2019. Nineteen per cent think he should remain as PM regardless of the findings. Sixteen per cent think his future should depend on what the report says.