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Explained: Why is British PM Boris Johnson facing calls to resign?
Hyderabad: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is under mounting pressure as public anger festers over reports of a series of rule-breaking Downing Street parties that took place while the rest of the country was in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. He is accused of misleading the public and parliament about drinks parties that took […]
Hyderabad: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is under mounting pressure as public anger festers over reports of a series of rule-breaking Downing Street parties that took place while the rest of the country was in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He is accused of misleading the public and parliament about drinks parties that took place at 10 Downing Street in London. In 2020, during England’s first Covid lockdown, the PM attended a “BYOB” (or “bring your own booze”) party in the Downing Street garden where about 30 people were in attendance.
Downing Street confirmed reports that staff members had gathered to celebrate Johnson’s birthday in June that year, though it said he had attended the event for “less than 10 minutes.”
His former top adviser, Dominic Cummings, said that the prime minister was warned about a drinks party in the Downing Street garden prior to the event.
At the time, restrictions imposed by the government said that people could not leave their homes or be outside the place they live without a reasonable excuse. There was also a ban on gatherings in a public place of more than two people unless they were all members of the same household or the gathering was “essential for work purposes”.
The new revelation by Downing Street comes at a moment of political peril for Johnson as he awaits the findings from an investigation, conducted by the senior civil servant Sue Gray into allegations about lockdown parties held in Downing Street.
He has been accused of misleading Parliament on what he knew about those events, and if the Gray report finds those accusations to be factual, he would find himself under intense pressure to step down.
Besides, a photo that surfaced from May 2020 showed Johnson and his staff with bottles of wine and a cheeseboard in the Downing Street garden. However, he said people were “at work talking about work”.
He further apologised for “misjudgements that were made” and said he was not aware the event he attended on 20 May was a party but had “believed implicitly” it was a work event.
Not just these, many other gatherings as well have been reported in late 2020 and in April 2021. Among those, two parties involved Johnson’s staff held the night before Prince Philip’s funeral – at a time when indoor mixing was banned. Later his office later apologised to the Queen following the reports.
London police are now investigating parties. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick revealed that an investigation was underway in a statement before the London Assembly. Dick said Scotland Yard is now investigating “a number of events” at Downing Street.
While a few Conservative MPs have been urging Johnson to resign, most have said they are prepared to await the conclusion of Sue Gray’s investigation which is expected sometime next week before deciding how to proceed.
As Johnson awaits the findings of a different inquiry into “partygate” revelations, the claims by a Muslim Conservative MP in the UK Parliament Nusrat Ghani have stoked fresh controversy for Downing Street. She said in a statement released that Johnson had refused to get involved when the issue was raised with him in June 2020, instead urging her to make a formal complaint to the Conservative Party.
In a statement released early on Monday, Downing Street said that PM Johnson had now asked the Cabinet Office to conduct an inquiry into the allegations.
A spokesperson of Downing Street said Johnson “has asked officials to establish the facts about what happened…As he said at the time, the prime minister takes these claims very seriously”.
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