LAST UPDATE | 25 May 2022
BORIS JOHNSON HAS said he “overwhelmingly” believes he should remain in office despite public anger at the “bitter and painful” conclusions of the inquiry into raucous parties in No 10 during the coronavirus lockdown.
The UK Prime Minister recognised that people are “indignant” over the damning findings of Sue Gray’s inquiry into law-breaking at the heart of Government but defied fresh calls to resign.
He said he takes “full responsibility” for the scandal but sought to play down his personal involvement in the gatherings detailed in the report by the senior official.
The Gray report gave details of gatherings at which officials drank so much they were sick, sang karaoke, became involved in altercations and abused security and cleaning staff at a time when millions of people across the country were unable to see friends and family.
Following its publication this morning, Johnson was questioned at a press conference on whether or not he had considered resigning over the gatherings.
He responded: “I overwhelmingly feel it is my job to get on and deliver.
“No matter how bitter and painful that the conclusions of this may be – and they are – and no matter how humbling they are, I have got to keep moving forward and the Government has got to keep moving. And we are.”
The report said the “senior leadership” in No 10 must “bear responsibility” for the culture which led to lockdown rules being broken at a series of events in 2020 and 2021.
The Prime Minister faced fresh demands to resign after the report said the public would be “dismayed” by the behaviour uncovered.
“The events that I investigated were attended by leaders in government. Many of these events should not have been allowed to happen,” Gray said.
The Metropolitan Police has issued 126 fines for rule breaches in No 10 and Whitehall, with the Prime Minister receiving a single fixed-penalty notice for his birthday party in the Cabinet Room in June 2020.
But senior civil servant Gray condemned the wider culture that had been allowed to develop under Johnson’s leadership.
She said some of the more junior officials who attended parties “believed that their involvement in some of these events was permitted given the attendance of senior leaders”.
“The senior leadership at the centre, both political and official, must bear responsibility for this culture,” Gray said.
She also said there were “multiple examples of a lack of respect and poor treatment of security and cleaning staff” during the events, which was “unacceptable”.
“Many will be dismayed that behaviour of this kind took place on this scale at the heart of Government,” she said.
“The public have a right to expect the very highest standards of behaviour in such places and clearly what happened fell well short of this.”
Labour leader Keir Starmer told the Commons that report “laid bare the rot” in No 10 and called on Tory MPs to tell Boris Johnson “the game is up” and that it is “time to pack his bags”.
Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner described the contents of the report as “indefensible”, calling Johnson’s Downing Street “rotten from the very top”.
You can’t be a lawmaker and a lawbreaker.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) May 25, 2022
It’s time for Tory MPs to tell Boris Johnson that this has gone on too long.
Only then will dignity be restored in Downing Street. pic.twitter.com/gEwvnke9L6
Scottish National Party (SNP) Westminster leader Ian Blackford branded the report “damning” and called the Prime Minister to resign for “orchestrating” the scenes in Downing Street.
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said: “Any other PM would be forced to resign by a report as damaging as this, yet still Conservative MPs defend Johnson and allow him to cling on.”
Later today, Johnson is set to face Tory MPs who will ultimately decide his fate at a private meeting in Parliament.
Senior backbencher Tobias Ellwood, a prominent critic of the UK Prime Minister, challenged Johnson over the “damning report” which revealed an “absence of leadership, focus and discipline in No 10”.
He asked fellow Tories “‘are you willing day in and day out to defend this behaviour publicly” and asked: “Can we win the general election on this current trajectory?”
The #SueGrayReport lays bare the scale of rule breaking that @BorisJohnson presided over. Rules that he lied to parliament were followed at all times. A culture of drinking and debauchery in No10, while the rest of us stayed home. His only option should be to resign #PMQs pic.twitter.com/rZRUBH1s9c
— Ian Blackford 🇺🇦🏴 (@Ianblackford_MP) May 25, 2022
The inquiry’s findings include:
The report issued by Gray includes a series of photos, with Johnson pictured at the surprise birthday party in the Cabinet Room on 19 June 2020 for which he received a fine.
He is seen with Cabinet Secretary Simon Case and Chancellor Rishi Sunak, with sandwiches, juices and what appears to be Estrella lager – in one picture Johnson is seen raising a can of the beer aloft.
Other photos include the previously-seen images of Johnson raising a glass of wine at a leaving do for his former spin doctor Lee Cain on 13 November 2020.
In a Commons statement, Johnson repeated his apology over the birthday party and added: “I take full responsibility for everything that took place on my watch.
“Sue Gray’s report has emphasised that it is up to the political leadership in Number 10 to take ultimate responsibility and, of course, I do.”
Johnson said he was “humbled” by the experience and had learned his lesson.
But he said he had been “as surprised and disappointed as anyone else” by the revelations in the report and “I have been appalled by some of the behaviour, particularly in the treatment of the security and the cleaning staff”.
“I’d like to apologise to those members of staff and I expect anyone who behaved in that way to apologise to them as well.”
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