Labour Party leader, Sir Keir Starmer, has said Boris Johnson is focused on “saving his own skin” rather than attending to key issues after findings into No. 10 Downing Street lockdown parties were published.
The update which was delivered on Monday, January 31, 2022, by Civil Servant, Sue Gray blamed a “failure of leadership” for rule-breaking in Downing Street.
Mr Johnson met Tory (a member of the Conservative Party in Great Britain) MPs on Monday, January 31, 2022, to reassure them about his premiership and to promise a shake-up in No. 10 Downing Street.
Some MPs have said they are waiting for Ms Gray’s full report to decide on the PM’s leadership.
But the issue was not raised at Tuesday’s (February 1, 2022) cabinet meeting, with Mr Johnson’s spokesman saying the ministers were “focused on the situation in Ukraine and the domestic priority of levelling up”.
Deputy Prime Minister, Dominic Raab defended his boss, in an interview he granted a local media firm, saying that he had “expressed contrition for his overall responsibility”, and had a plan to fix the running of No 10.
But fellow Tory MP, Andrew Mitchell in an interview with the same media firm, said the PM was running government like a “medieval court”, and he was doing “great damage” to his party.
Meanwhile, Tory peer and former minister, Lord Duncan, has called for Mr Johnson to resign and stand for re-election if he wants to remain in office.
He told the media that the PM should “put himself before the people who put him there in the first place” to “break the deadlock” over the parties.
Also, former Tory leader, William Hague, said Mr Johnson had “failed to grasp the opportunity to make a fresh start”, writing in the Times that the Prime Minister “should be worried by the reaction of his own MPs”.
On the other hand, Metropolitan Police officers are looking into 12 events for alleged breaches of lockdown rules, including three of them that the PM reportedly attended, with another one in his flat.
Reports said his wife, Carrie Johnson, hosted the event in their Downing Street home, an event Mrs Johnson’s spokesperson previously denied happened.
In Ms Gray’s partial report, released on Monday, January 31, 2022, the senior civil servant said she had been “extremely limited” by the police investigation in how much she could say, hence a “meaningful” report could not be released yet.
Hopefully, after the police finish their inquiries, she will publish the updated report on the lockdown parties in No 10 Downing Street.
‘Plan of action’
In an interview, Labour Party leader, Sir Keir said Mr Johnson had become distracted by trying to save his leadership.
He said: “So many people are worried about issues such as their energy bills, which are going through the roof, and the prime minister is spending all of his time saving his own skin.”
“We now know that he had a meeting planned with the chancellor last week to discuss energy bills, but that was cancelled because he was having meetings to save his own job.”
Labour Party leader, Sir Keir Starmer
But Mr Raab insisted the government was “getting on with the job”, despite the ongoing investigation.
“[The PM] recognised that, as Sue Gray said, the standards expected in No 10 were not as they should have been. He said he did take responsibility and he apologised, and he provided a plan of action. But if you look at the big judgement calls… the prime minister has got this right. This government has got a plan.”
Deputy Prime Minister, Dominic Raab
When asked if Mr Johnson had admitted breaking any rules himself, Mr. Raab swiftly responded, saying: “The prime minister has been very clear that he acted in good faith at all times.”
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