UK leader sorry after report slams parties during lockdown
Johnson brushes off calls to quit over ‘partygate’ scandal
LONDON — Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologized Monday after an inquiry found that Downing Street parties while Britain was in lockdown represented a “serious failure” to observe the standards expected of government or to heed the sacrifices made by millions of people during the pandemic
Johnson brushed off calls to quit over the “partygate” scandal, promising to reform the way his office is run and insisting that he and his government can be trusted. But he faced criticism from some of his own Conservative colleagues, who have the power to oust a leader some fear has become damaged goods. One Conservative lawmaker accused the prime minister of taking him for “a fool.”
“I get it, and I will fix it,” Johnson said in Parliament after senior civil servant Sue Gray published interim findings on several gatherings in 2020 and 2021 while the U.K. was under governmentimposed restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Gray found that “failures of leadership and judgment” allowed events to occur that “should not have been allowed to take place.”
“The hardship under which citizens across the country worked, lived and sadly even died while observing the government’s regulations and guidance rigorously are known only too well,” Gray wrote.
“Against the backdrop of the pandemic, when the government was asking citizens to accept farreaching restrictions on their lives, some of the behavior surrounding these gatherings is difficult to justify,” she added.
Gray’s glimpse inside a 10 Downing St. marked by excessive alcohol consumption and staff afraid to speak out about workplace problems are a blow to Johnson, despite the fact that Gray’s conclusions relate to just four of the 16 events she investigated.
Her findings on 12 others have been withheld at the request of the Metropolitan Police force, to avoid “any prejudice” to a criminal investigation launched last week into the most serious alleged breaches of coronavirus rules.
The force said Monday that it would be interviewing party attendees and looking at more than 300 photos and over 500 pages of documents. Anyone found guilty, including the prime minister, could face a fine.
Among the events under police investigation are a June 2020 birthday party for Johnson in Downing Street and two gatherings held on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral in April 2021 — a service at which the widowed Queen Elizabeth II had to sit alone.