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Boris Johnson on Tuesday denied suggestions that he lied to the House of Commons over his knowledge of a Downing Street garden party on May 20th, 2020, during the first Covid-19 lockdown.
In his first public appearance in nearly a week, the British prime minister told Sky News that he was “deeply sorry for misjudgments that were made”, adding that he recognised how “infuriating” the revelations of Whitehall parties were to the public who made “huge sacrifices” throughout the pandemic.
Mr Johnson told MPs last week that he joined the May 20th, 2020 gathering of about 40 people – which involved food and alcohol – for about 25 minutes and that he had thought it was a “work event”.
On Tuesday he reiterated that he had not been warned that the event was against the coronavirus rules. “Nobody said to me this is an event that is against the rules, that is in breach of what we’re asking everybody else to do, it should not go ahead,” he told the broadcaster.
“What I remember is going out into that garden for a short time and for 25 minutes thanking staff who’d worked on Covid, who were continuing to work on Covid, and then going back to office.”
His comments contradict the account of his former aide, Dominic Cummings, who was working in Number 10 at the time. On Monday Mr Cummings wrote he would “swear under oath” that the prime minister knew the gathering was a party.
Last week ITV news published an email sent by Martin Reynolds, the principal private secretary in Downing Street, inviting 100 staff to “socially distanced drinks in the No 10 garden”.
Mr Cummings said he subsequently challenged the prime minister about the drinks party and said “you’ve got to grip this madhouse”, only for Mr Johnson to wave aside the issue. He claimed that other eyewitnesses would back up his version of events.
“He \Johnson] knew he was at a drinks party cos he was told it was a drinks party and it was actually a drinks party,” Mr Cummings wrote.
Downing Street on Tuesday rejected his account and said it was “untrue” the prime minister had been warned that the event could breach Covid laws.
Mr Johnson has authorised Sue Gray, a senior civil servant, to investigate a series of parties alleged to have taken place in Downing Street and elsewhere in Whitehall when the general public were unable to socialise in groups because of lockdown rules.
“As he [Johnson] said earlier this week, he believed implicitly that this was a work event. He has apologised to the House and is committed to making a further statement once the investigation concludes,” a spokesperson said.
Speaking earlier on Tuesday, Dominic Raab, the justice secretary and deputy prime minister, said that if it emerged that a prime minister had deliberately lied and it was “not corrected immediately, it would normally . . . be a resigning matter”.
Meanwhile, chancellor Rishi Sunak offered lukewarm support to the prime minister and said he believed Mr Johnson’s account of the situation. But when asked whether the prime minister should resign if found to have lied to parliament, Mr Sunak said he would not get into “hypotheticals”, adding that the ministerial code was “clear”.
“As you know Sue Gray is conducting an inquiry into this situation and I think it is right that we allow her to conclude that job,” the chancellor told Sky.
Downing Street has stressed that Mr Johnson would comply with the ministerial code, stating: “The guidance is clear, the ministerial code is very clear on this point when it comes to knowingly misleading the House and the prime minister abides by that, and we fully support it.”
However, when asked if Mr Johnson would resign if it was found that he had knowingly misled parliament over the alleged parties, the prime minister’s spokesperson stressed the importance of not jumping “ahead” of Ms Gray’s inquiry and conflating what is outlined in the code with “what the investigation may or may not conclude or set out”.
Opinion polls have highlighted the damage the “partygate” row has done to the Conservative party’s standing with the public. Redfield and Wilton, a polling and research company, on Monday put the Labour party on 43 per cent, 13 points ahead of the Tories.
However, only a small number of Conservative MPs have publicly called for Mr Johnson to resign, with most choosing to wait for the publication of the Gray report. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2022