Boris Johnson news: PM apologises for No10 party as he faces calls for his resignation

Boris Johnson has apologised over reports of Downing Street parties during lockdown saying there were “things we simply didn’t get right”.

Now the Prime Minister faces calls to resign from three top Tories - Douglas Ross, MP for Moray, William Wragg MP and former leader of the Scottish Conservatives Baroness Davidson.

The leader of the Conservatives in Scotland said he spoke to Mr Johnson Wednesday afternoon and explained why he was calling for him quit.

Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister said he was sorry for the No10 party during PMQs.

He said: “I want to apologise. People across this country have made extraordinary sacrifices... I know the anguish they have been through.

“And I know the rage they feel with me and with the Government I lead when they think that in Downing Street itself the rules are not being properly followed.

“I cannot anticipate the rules of current inquiry, I have learned enough to know that there were things we simply did not get right.”

20:08 , Lily Waddell

Thank you for reading, that is all for our coverage today.

Northern Ireland health minister appeals for military support for hospitals

18:27 , Josh Salisbury

In Northern Ireland, the health minister Robin Swann has appealed for military support to relieve Covid pressures in the country’s hospitals.

Mr Swann has made an official request to the Ministry of Defence to provide combat medical technicians (CMTs) and non-medical staff.

It is understood the latest request is linked to increased hospital pressures due to high levels of staff sickness due to Covid.

Thousands of workers across the health service in Northern Ireland are currently absent as the number of Omicron cases remains high in the region.

A Department of Health spokesperson told the PA news agency: “We can confirm that a request for military assistance has been made by the Health Minister to the Ministry of Defence.

“Our health and social care system is under severe pressure.”

Environment Secretary: No 10 ‘different’ from other workplaces

18:04 , Josh Salisbury

Environment Secretary George Eustice has claimed circumstances were different in No 10 in May 2020 than for other workplaces.

Mr Eustice told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme: “At that particular point obviously, most of us were working from home and even doing interviews from home.

“But it was different in No 10 in the sense that the Prime Minister lives there and works there and there was a team dealing with Covid who were working there and had to work from there.”

He admitted it was a “very difficult, uncomfortable time for the Prime Minister”.

However, he said it was for Sue Gray, the senior civil servant leading an investigation into lockdown parties, to investigate the various reported events.

Asked if the PM will resign if Ms Gray’s report found wrongdoing, Mr Eustice said: “I don’t think we should get ahead of ourselves here. We should take this a step at a time.”

Tory MP: Boris should hand in his own resignation

17:39 , Josh Salisbury

Mr Wragg, who is also the vice-chairman of the influential 1922 committee of backbench MPs, suggested Boris Johnson should take the decision to resign himself.

He said it was "a tragedy things have come to pass in this way", and he said: "Unfortunately, I wasn't reassured. I fear this is simply going to be a continuing distraction to the good governance of the country."

He said it would be "preferable" for Mr Johnson to offer his resignation himself as MPs were "tired" and "frankly worn out of defending what is invariably indefensible".

He said: "I don't believe it should be left to the findings of a civil servant to determine the future of the Prime Minister and indeed who governs this country.

“I think it is for the Conservative Party, if not the Prime Minister, in fact, to make that decision, and to realise what is in the best interest, so that we can move forward both as a party and a country."

He added: "It is deeply unfortunate, but I'm afraid it is... the inevitable conclusion is the only way to do that is with a change”.

Senior Tory: PM’s position is 'untenable’

17:12 , Josh Salisbury

A senior Tory has said that the Prime Minister’s position is now in doubt after his apology for attending a lockdown party in May 2020 at Downing Street.

Chairman of the Public Affairs and Constitutional Affairs Committee, William Wragg, said the Prime Minister's position is "untenable".

The Tory MP for Hazel Grove told BBC Radio 4's PM programme that: "A series of unforced errors are deeply damaging to the perception of the party.

"The Prime Minister's position is untenable."

Former leader of the Scottish Conservatives calls for Boris to quit

16:25 , Elly Blake

Jackson Carlaw, Tory MSP for Eastwood and leader of the Scottish Conservatives between February and July 2020, said he agreed with party boss Douglas Ross and said the Prime Minister should stand down after Mr Johnson admitted attending a drinks party in the Downing Street garden.

“People in Eastwood, and across the UK made enormous sacrifices to follow the rules,” he said on Twitter.

“Given that the PM has now confirmed he attended a rule breaking gathering, he has lost the confidence of the country, so I believe Douglas has made the right call & that the PM should stand down.”

Leader of Scottish Conservatives calls for Johnson to resign

16:16 , Elly Blake

Boris Johnson should quit over the “Partygate” scandal, the leader of the Conservatives in Scotland said today in a major blow to the Prime Minister.

Douglas Ross, MP for Moray, said he spoke to Mr Johnson Wednesday afternoon and explained why he was calling for him resign.

Mr Johnson admitted in the Commons earlier that he had been at a “bring-your-own-booze” party in the garden of No10 on May 20, 2020, when Britain was in lockdown.

Mr Ross said: “I don’t want to be in this position. I am in the position now where I don’t think he can continue as leader of the Conservatives.

“I spoke to the Prime Minister this afternoon, I set out my reasons and I explained to him my position.”

Read the full piece here.

Gove offers support for PM

15:29 , Daniel Keane

Communities Secretary Michael Gove echoed Nadine Dorries’ support for the Prime Minister’s apology.

Culture Secretary Ms Dorries said Boris Johnson was “right to personally apologise” as “people are hurt and angry at what happened”.

Responding to her message, Mr Gove said: “Nadine is right.”

Cabinet minister leaps to PM’s defence

15:13 , Daniel Keane

Culture secretary Nadine Dorries has leapt to the prime minister’s defence, claiming he was “right to apologise”.

She tweeted: “PM was right to personally apologise earlier. People are hurt and angry at what happened and he has taken full responsibility for that.

“The inquiry should now be allowed to its work and establish the full facts of what happened.”

Raab ‘must come clean over whether he attended party'

15:00 , Daniel Keane

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab needs to “come clean” about whether he attended the Downing Street garden party in May 2020, Labour has said.

It follows a suggestion by Conservative MP Simon Hoare that the “bring your own booze” lockdown event was organised as a “thank you” to Mr Raab for stepping up while Boris Johnson was recovering from Covid.

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said: “If the Deputy Prime Minister also attended this party he needs to come clean.

“The public has a right to know if any other senior Tories were at this party while the rest of the country was locked down.”

Ms Rayner also criticised Rishi Sunak’s decision to travel to Devon on Wednesday, accusing him of “running away” from answering questions about what he knew about the alleged gatherings.

Downing St refuses to say whether Carrie attended party

14:37 , Daniel Keane

Downing Street refused to say whether Boris Johnson’s then fiancee Carrie Symonds attended the May 20 2020 event, whether he noticed food and drink there or if he brought a bottle to it himself.

She said that “matters around the around the guidance, the nature of the gatherings, attendance, setting etc will remain, rightly, a matter for the independent review to determine”.

Reports have suggested tables were laid out laden with drinks and snacks at the event.

Asked if he saw people drinking and party food on offer, the Prime Minister’s press secretary said: “On specific allegations and speculation, those matters will rightly remain for the independent review to look at and determine.”

The press secretary said questions around whether other ministers attended or if Mr Johnson gave a speech were also matters for Sue Gray’s investigation.

Boris Johnson’s ‘lies have finally caught up with him’, say bereaved families

13:55 , Elly Blake

An emotional statement has been sent out by COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, calling for the prime minister’s resignation.

“The prime minister’s lies have finally caught up with him,” said spokesperson Hannah Brady, who lost her father to Covid-19.

“Not content with kicking bereaved families like mine in the teeth by breaking the rules he set and then lying to us about it, he’s now taking the British public for fools by pretending he ‘didn’t know it was a party’.

“Every time he lies to us, he pours more salt into the wounds of those who have already lost so much to this pandemic, but that doesn’t stop him. He’s incapable of telling the truth and he needs to go.”

She described Mr Johnson as a “walking public health hazard” and said the public will “simply laugh at him” if he tries to impose more COVID restrictions in future.

“He has broken his own rules and if he had any decency he would now resign, rather than hide behind an internal ‘inquiry’,” she said.

“If he doesn’t, his MPs should remove him. They have a moral duty to do so.”

Senior Tory says she was not convinced by PM during question time

13:39 , Elly Blake

Ruth Davidson, a former leader of the Scottish Conservatives, has said she was not convinced by Boris Johnson’s performance at PMQs...

Senior Tory says she was not convinced by PM during question time

13:39 , Elly Blake

Ruth Davidson, a former leader of the Scottish Conservatives, has said she was not convinced by Boris Johnson’s performance at PMQs...

Tory voters call for PM to resign

13:22 , Daniel Keane

A Conservative voter and former party member has called for Boris Johnson to resign and said the Prime Minister “is finished”.

John Coleman, 47, an English teacher from Harrogate, in North Yorkshire, said he may vote Labour in the next election because of the admission by the Prime Minister that he attended a party at Downing Street.

Posting on twitter, he said: “I speak as a conservative voter and former party member... This government needs to fall and it needs to fall now!! Amoral leadership.”

He added: “At the moment it is highly unlikely I will vote Conservative next time round. There are too many sycophants and lightweights in Cabinet and an amoral clown at the top. He is finished.

“He is either incompetent or lying. He needs to resign.”

Tory MPs start to publicly question PM

13:12 , Daniel Keane

Sir Roger Gayle, a veteran Tory MP, has questioned Boris Johnson’s explanation of the events of May 20.

He tweets: “‘Bring a bottle’ to a ‘work event’ is a novel idea! Very thin ice indeed.”

‘Silence should worry PM’, says shadow health sec

13:04 , Daniel Keane

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting tweeted: “It’s the silence that should worry Boris Johnson after that (Prime Minister’s Questions).

“The silence behind him on the Conservative benches and in the corridors as they left.

“That wasn’t an apology. It was the most shameful performance by a Prime Minister in the House of Commons in living memory.”

PM’s speech ‘carefully lawyered’, say experts

12:58 , Daniel Keane

Boris Johnson’s apology was “carefully lawyered”, a legal expert has said.

Adam Wagner, a human rights barrister at Doughty Street Solicitors, writes: “The apology - when read carefully - was to the millions of people who ‘wouldn’t see it in that way’, but because he also said technically it could be said to fall within the guidance he is implicitly saying the millions of people are wrong in their interpretation.

“This was only what *he* thought the event was. He ‘went into the garden to thank groups of staff for 25 minutes [he] believed implicitly this was a work event’.

“So defence is a personal one only and leaves open the possibility the event was something else without him realising.

“This is very much about his personal liability - he is implicitly denying he knew what the event was, had seen the email or had anything to do with it. Because here’s the key point: on the wording of email (’bring your own booze’) this couldn’t technically have been a work event.”

Cummings: PM’s excuse is bull****

12:46 , Daniel Keane

Boris Johnson’s former aide Dominic Cummings has weighed in on the prime minister’s performance in the Commons, dismissing his excuse as “bull***”.

Mr Cummings, now a prominent critic of the Prime Minister, said he had objected to the invitation sent by No 10’s principal private secretary Martin Reynolds because it was obviously a social event, not work.

On Twitter he said that the Prime Minister’s “technically within the rules” excuse was because the alternative was to admit that he had broken the rules and resign.

Mr Cummings said: “Whole point of why I & other official told MR - WTF YOU DOING HOLDING A PARTY - was cos the invite = obv totally SOCIAL NOT WORK (UNlike all the mtngs in garden).

“No way ‘technically within rules’.”

“That was “bulls*** cos altern is admit he broke rules + resign”.

Recap: How did PM explain garden party?

12:41 , Daniel Keane

Here is Boris Johnson’s explanation of the events on May 20, 2020 in full.

He said: “No 10 is a big department with a garden as an extension of the office which has been in constant use because of the role of fresh air in stopping the virus.

“When I went into that garden just after six on May 20 2020, to thank groups of staff before going back into my office 25 minutes later to continue working, I believed implicitly that this was a work event.

“With hindsight I should have sent everyone back inside. I should have found some other way to thank them.

“I should have recognised that even if it could be said technically to fall within the guidance, there are millions and millions of people who simply would not see it that way, people who have suffered terribly, people who were forbidden from meeting loved ones at all inside or outside, and to them and to this House I offer my heartfelt apologies.

“All I ask is that Sue Gray be allowed to complete her inquiry into that day and several others so that the full facts can be established.”

Ryanair retweets meme showing PM at party

12:33 , Daniel Keane

Ryanair has become an unlikely critic of the government this afternoon.

The airline retweeted a meme showing the prime minister at the Downing Street garden party, captioned: “I don’t know I’m at a party”.

Tory MP responds to Boris’ apology with grave emoji

12:24 , Daniel Keane

A Tory MP has reacted to Boris Johnson’s apology with a picture of a grave emoji, according to The Spectator’s Isabel Hardman.

Watch: Johnson’s apology in full

12:20 , Daniel Keane

PM ‘betrayed the nations trust’, says Blackford"

12:19 , Daniel Keane

Ian Blackford, Westminster leader for the SNP, says: “The prime minister stands before us accused of betraying the nation’s trust.

“He is breaking the laws set by his own government.”

“As an ex soldier I know how to follow the rules,” he says. “The prime minister has never followed the rules - he does what he wants.”

“He feels no shame for his actions. The public suffered pain and anguish.”

Starmer: PM may have breached ministerial code

12:13 , Daniel Keane

Sir Keir says: “We have the prime minister attending parties - a clear breach of Covid rules.

“We have him offering ridiculous excuses - a clear breach of the ministerial code.

“Will the public kick him out, will his party kick him out or will he do the decent thing and resign?”

PM: We must wait for Sue Gray report

12:11 , Daniel Keane

Sir Keir mentions the resignations of Matt Hancock and Allegra Stratton over breaking Covid rules and asks why Mr Johnson does not do the same.

Mr Johnson says: “As I’ve said I regret the way things happened that night and I apologise.

“But it would be better if he waited until the full conclusion of the inquiry until we have the facts.”

Sir Keir says Mr Johnson is “lying through his teeth”.

PM’s apology is ‘worthless’, says Starmer

12:08 , Daniel Keane

Sir Keir continues: “That apology was worthless. Let me tell him why this matters.

“Yesterday in this chamber MPs told stories about the sacrifices people have been making.

“If the prime minister is so contemptuous of the British public that he thinks he can ride this out?”

Mr Johnson responds: “I know people have made huge sacrifices during this pandemic.

“I regret the way that I handled this and I wish I had handled it better.”

Starmer: PM must do the decent thing and resign

12:06 , Daniel Keane

Sir Keir Starmer has taken to the podium.

He says: “This apology is the pathetic spectacle of a man who has run out of road.

“His defence that he didn’t realise he was at a party is so ridiculous that it is offensive to the British public.

“Is he know going the decent thing and resign?”

Boris Johnson apologises to the nation over partygate

12:04 , Daniel Keane

Prime Minister’s Questions has begun.

Mr Johnson has offered his apology to MPs and the country over the partygate scandal.

He tells MPs: “I want to apologise. People across this country have made extraordinary sacrifices... I know the anguish they have been through.

“And I know the rage they feel with me and with the Government I lead when they think that in Downing Street itself the rules are not being properly followed.

“I cannot anticipate the rules of current inquiry, I have learned enough to know that there were things we simply did not get right.

“And I must take responsibility - No 10 is a big department with the garden as the extension. When I went into the garden to thank groups of staff on May 20 before going back into my office 25 minutes later, I believed implicitly that this was a work event.

“With hindsight, I should have sent everyone back inside. Even if it could be said to fall into the guidance, there would be millions who did not see it that way.”

Welsh Sec acknowledges anger over partygate row

11:52 , Daniel Keane

Welsh Secretary Simon Hart acknowledged the damage the partygate row was having on the Tory party.

He told reporters at a briefing: “I absolutely wish we weren’t talking about this. I don’t think that anybody who works in Downing Street or anywhere else thinks that this is a happy place to be, absolutely not.

“There’s a lot of frustration and bafflement about all of this, and I completely understand.

“I’ve not met anybody who is not deeply, deeply conscious of the effect that this has on people’s attitudes to not just the political party ... but the Government and the smooth running of the nation.

“I don’t think anybody is in any doubt that these kind of issues do not help in our efforts to try and navigate our way out of Covid and into better economic times.”

Who is Sue Gray? Senior civil servant leading No10 probe

11:41 , Daniel Keane

Sue Gray, the senior civil servant tasked with leading an inquiry into alleged Downing Street rule-breaking during Covid lockdowns, is no stranger to an investigation.

She previously led two reviews into the behaviour Cabinet ministers.

Former prime minister Theresa May tasked her with investigating her close ally, Damian Green, over allegations that he had lied about the presence of pornographic images on his Commons computer.

She also spearheaded the so-called “plebgate” inquiry into claims that then-chief whip Andrew Mitchell had insulted police officers on Downing Street.

Both resigned shortly after her investigations - though it remains to be seen if Boris Johnson will meet the same fate.

‘Just a matter of time’ for PM, says Tory MP

11:26 , Daniel Keane

One Tory MP from the 2019 General Election intake has told The Times’ Mhari Aurora that it is “a matter of time” before Boris Johnson leaves Downing Street.

He writes: “It’s clear it’s all over. Just a matter of time. Colleagues have got to decide whether it’s going to be long and painful, or short and sharp.

“Many have local elections which could wipe out their councillors, the very people who help us at a General. Are we really prepared to sacrifice them for someone who isn’t going to lead us into the next election?

“Letters have got to go into Graham, and we’ve got to do our bit to end this misery. Or the damage will be done for a long time to come.”

How could a leadership contest be triggered?

11:10 , Daniel Keane

There are two ways a Conservative Party leadership contest can be triggered.

The first is if the current leader resigns.

The second is if 15 per cent of Tory MPs write to the chair of the backbench 1922 Committee saying they no longer have confidence in the leader. This would trigger a no confidence vote.

As of January 12 2022, there are 360 Conservative MPs, meaning 54 letters would prompt a confidence vote.

Sunak could miss PMQs

10:57 , Daniel Keane

Chancellor Rishi Sunak tweeted from a visit to Ilfracombe in Devon on Wednesday morning.

The journey from there to Parliament would take more than four hours by car, suggesting he may not be in the Chamber to support Boris Johnson at Prime Minister’s Questions.

Mr Sunak said he was “excited” to be in the town with North Devon MP Selaine Saxby.

Tory backbencher repeats defence of Boris

10:47 , Daniel Keane

Good morning and welcome to the Evening Standard’s live politics coverage.

It is set to be a dramatic day in Westminster, with the prime minister facing MPs in the House of Commons in just over an hour.

Tory MPs have openly warned the PM his job is on the line as he seeks to forge a credible response to reports he attended a gathering of 40 people during lockdown in May 2020.

But one MP refusing to budge in his defence of the embattled prime minister is backbencher Michael Fabricant, who reiterated his defence of the drinks party this morning.

He tweeted: “Covid rules are and were all about not spreading disease.

“The Downing Street garden is a secure area protected by armed police adjoining (around) 100 cramped offices.

“No mixing with non-Downing Street workers is possible. This will be one of the factors being considered in the inquiry.”