At that time people in the UK were banned from meeting more than one person outside their homes to prevent the spread of COVID-19
Boris Johnson’s office on Friday apologized to the royal family for holding a staff party in Downing Street on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral last year – the latest in a string of reports lockout-violation meeting Who is threatening to topple the British Prime Minister.
Mr Johnson’s spokesman Jamie Davis said the government acknowledged the party had caused “significant public anger”.
“It is very regrettable that this happened at a time of national mourning and Number 10 apologized to the palace,” he said, using a word for the prime minister’s 10 Downing St. office.
Mr Johnson’s former communications director James Slack said the party “should not have happened when it did.”
“I want to apologize unconditionally for the anger and the hurt it has caused,” Mr Slack said in a statement.
“I am deeply sorry, and take full responsibility,” said Mr Slack, who left the government last year and is now the tabloid newspaper’s deputy editor-in-chief. Sun,
Mr Johnson is not alleged to have left the party, which he disclosed daily Telegraph Newspaper. Earlier this week, he apologized for attending a gathering in Downing Street’s garden, his office and home in May 2020, when the UK was under strict lockdown.
The latest party has shocked many in Britain because of the symbolism of its time. daily Telegraph said Downing Street employees drank, danced and socialized to leave a late night party for Mr Slack and another staff member. The next day, the widowed Queen sat alone in church during her husband’s funeral service at Windsor Castle, to observe social distancing rules prohibiting indoor mixing.
Photographs of the emperor, dressed in black and wearing a face mask, became a powerful image of the isolation and sacrifice endured by many during the pandemic.
The coffin of Britain’s Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth, who died at the age of 99, is carried to St George’s Chapel for a funeral service in Windsor, Britain, on April 17, 2021. photo Credit: Reuters
Members of Mr Johnson’s Conservative government have expressed support for the prime minister after his admission on Wednesday that he attended a “bring your own wine” staff party in the garden of his Downing Street office in May 2020.
At that time people in Britain were banned by law from meeting more than one person outside their homes as part of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Millions were cut off from family and friends, and even barred from visiting relatives who died in hospitals.
Many conservatives fear the “Partygate” scandal could become a turning point for a leader who has weathered a series of other storms over his expenses and his moral judgment.
The latest revelations are likely to prompt more conservatives to join opponents and demand that Johnson resign for flouting government-imposed rules on the country as COVID-19 ravages Britain
In a sign of growing anger in party ranks, the Conservative Association in the staunch Tory district of Sutton Coldfield in central England voted unanimously on Thursday night to withdraw its support for Johnson.
“Culture starts at the top, doesn’t it?” Simon Ward, a conservative local councillor, said. “And that’s a really frustrating point.
“We were asking people across our country to make massive sacrifices in the last two years, the people of rural Sutton Coldfield were asking for massive sacrifices. I think we have a right to expect that everyone in government and in those positions of leadership will follow the same rules and guidelines. ,
Mr Johnson said in his apology on Wednesday that he understood the public’s “anger” but refrained from admitting wrongdoing, saying he set up a work program to thank employees for their efforts during the pandemic. Considered collecting.
Mr Johnson urged people to await the conclusion of an investigation by senior civil servant Sue Grey into several alleged rule-breaking parties by government employees during the pandemic. Ms Grey, a respected public servant who has investigated past allegations of ministerial wrongdoing, is expected to report by the end of the month.
The government says Ms Gray’s investigation is independent, but she is a civil servant and Mr Johnson is, ultimately, her boss. Ms Gray could conclude that Mr Johnson broke the code of conduct for government ministers, although she does not have the power to sack him. Mr Johnson has not said what he would do if he found it was his fault.
Mr Johnson will not face a voter’s decision until the next general election, scheduled for 2024. But his party may try to oust him sooner if it judges that he has turned toxic.
Under conservative rules, a vote of no confidence in the leader can be triggered if 15% of the party’s legislators write a letter demanding it.
Conservative MP Roger Gale, who has long criticized Mr Johnson, said he had already submitted a letter to challenge the leadership.
“I think this weekend the mind is now focused on the need to take the necessary action,” he said. “I obviously don’t know, and I shouldn’t know how many of my colleagues have written letters… but I do believe there is some momentum that is increasing.”
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss – often cited as a possible successor to Johnson – said she understood “the anger and frustration of the people” at the party’s disclosures.
But she said “I think now we need to move on.”
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