Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the PM Boris Johnson must now quit over what he called his “ridiculous” lies and excuses. Mr. Johnson is also under pressure from his own MPs over the May 2020 party.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has apologized for attending a “bring your own booze” party during the first coronavirus lockdown. He told MPs the event in the Downing Street garden was “technically within the rules” but he should have realized how it would look to the public.
According to the BBC report, Senior Tories are calling upon Boris Johnson to stand down as prime minister after he admitted to attending a drinks party during the lockdown.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the PM must now quit over what he called his “ridiculous” lies and excuses. Mr. Johnson is also under pressure from his own MPs over the May 2020 party.
Johnson had earlier apologized for the way he had handled the event in the Downing Street garden in 2020 and said he understood the public’s “rage” over it.
While cabinet members including deputy PM Dominic Raab have rallied around Mr. Johnson, Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross and senior backbenchers William Wragg and Caroline Nokes have called for him to step down.
UK’s Boris Johnson buys time with ‘partygate’ apology, but grip on power is precarious https://t.co/8dVAUAg7FU
— News 100 Media (@xedipiworos) January 13, 2022
Mr. Ross, who is an MP and an MSP, said he would write to the 1922 Committee – which organizes Tory leadership contests – to register his lack of confidence in the PM.
Another backbencher William Wragg, who chairs an influential select committee, said the prime minister’s position had become “untenable”.
If 54 backbench Conservative MPs send letters to the 1922 committee it will certainly trigger a leadership challenge.
Ministers have urged MPs to wait for the outcome of an investigation into the Downing Street parties held in alleged violation of the Covid-rules which they say will be published shortly.
But growing numbers of his own MPs want him out because according to them Boris Johnson has already lost the benefit of the doubt and has been discussing frantically how and when his exit could take place.