Boris STILL refuses to admit lockdown laws were broken in Downing St
What planet is he on? Boris Johnson STILL refuses to admit lockdown laws were broken in Downing Street despite Partygate police handing out 20 FINES… and his deputy Dominic Raab saying the rules WERE broken
Boris Johnson repeatedly refused to admit lockdown laws breached in Whitehall Mr Johnson and Keir Starmer clashed over the Partygate scandal at PMQs earlierLabour leader demanded to know ‘why are you still here’ after police issued finesDominic Raab confirmed earlier that the police decision means law was broken
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Boris Johnson today stubbornly refused to admit that lockdown laws were broken in Downing Street despite Partygate police handing out 20 fines.
In a toe-curling appearance before the Commons Liaison Committee, the PM repeatedly blanked questions about whether the rules had been breached.
Under fire from senior MPs, he insisted: ‘I been very clear I won’t give a running commentary on an ongoing investigation.’
Mr Johnson – who is waiting to find out whether he personally will get a fixed penalty notice – also suggested that he will not speak about the issue until after a report by top civil servant Sue Gray is published, rather than when the police conclude their probe.
The comments echoed extraordinary dodging by the PM’s spokesman in a briefing with journalists earlier.
And the stance contrasts sharply with deputy PM Dominic Raab conceding in a round of interviews this morning that the police decision meant lockdown laws had been broken in Whitehall.
During the hearing, SNP MP Pete Wishart asked Mr Johnson to accept that ‘there has been criminality committed’.
He replied: ‘I have been, I hope, very frank with the House about where I think we have gone wrong and the things that I regret, that I apologise for.
‘But there is an ongoing investigation… I am going to camp pretty firmly on my position.’
Making clear he had not yet received a fine, Mr Johnson said: ‘I have been several times to the House to talk about this and to explain and to apologise and to set out the things that we are doing to change the way things run in No 10.
‘But what I also said repeatedly… I won’t give a running commentary on an investigation that is under way.’
He said he understood that people would be ‘naturally curious’ about the situation but ‘it would be wrong of me to deviate from that’.
Mr Johnson added: ‘I think you are going to have to hold your horses and wait until the conclusion of the investigation, when there will be a lot more clarity.’
In a toe-curling appearance before the Commons Liaison Committee, the PM repeatedly blanked questions about whether the rules had been breached
Earlier, Keir Starmer goaded Boris Johnson today over why he has not quit after Partygate police found lockdown laws were broken.
The Labour leader launched a series of barbs at Mr Johnson over fines being issued as they faced off at a rowdy PMQs.
Pointing out that Mr Johnson had assured the House that regulations had not been breached in Downing Street, Sir Keir said: ‘Why is he still here?’
However, the premier shot back by branding Sir Keir a ‘human weather vane’, saying he had recently dropped resignation calls because of the ongoing Ukraine crisis.
‘The investigators must go on with their jobs but in the meantime we are going to get on with our job,’ Mr Johnson said.
The politicians also traded blows on the cost-of-living crisis during the bad-tempered session, with Sir Keir mocking the government’s claims to be cutting taxes and the PM blaming Labour for failing to invest in nuclear power.
At PMQs, Sir Keir said: ‘Talking of parties, Prime Minister, he told the House no rules were broken in Downing Street during lockdown. The police have now concluded there was widespread criminality.
‘The ministerial code says that ministers who knowingly mislead the House should resign. Why’s he still here?’
Mr Johnson replied: ‘Hang on a minute, we do at least expect some consistency from this human weathervane – it was only a week or so ago he was saying that I shouldn’t resign. What is his position?
‘Of course the Met, the investigators must get on with their job but in meantime we’re going to get on with our job.’
Sir Keir said: ‘There are only two possible explanations – either he’s trashing the ministerial code or he’s claiming he was repeatedly lied to by his own advisers, that he didn’t know what was going on in his own house and his own office. Come off it.
‘He really does think it’s one rule for him and another rule for everyone else, that he can pass off criminality in his office and ask others to follow the law.
‘That he can keep raising taxes and call himself a tax-cutter. That he can hike tax during a cost of living crisis and get credit for giving a bit back just before an election.
‘When is he going to stop taking the British public for fools?’
Keir Starmer goaded Boris Johnson today over why he has not quit after Partygate police found lockdown laws were broken
Mr Johnson’s stance contrasted sharply with deputy PM Dominic Raab conceding in a round of interviews this morning that the police decision meant lockdown laws had been broken in Whitehall
Mr Johnson branded Sir Keir a ‘human weather vane’, saying he had recently dropped resignation calls because of the ongoing Ukraine crisis
Boris Johnson replied: ‘This is the Leader of the Opposition who would have kept this country in lockdown… he has zero consistency on any issue. One thing we know is he’d like to take us back into the EU and take us back into lockdown if he possibly could.’
After the exchanges, the PM’s official spokesman said No10’s position on whether the law had been broken was unchanged.
‘We are maintaining our position. There is an ongoing process here. The Met have come to a conclusion and have started a process which relates to 20 fines, and we respect that,’ the spokesman said.
‘We will not be commenting further on the detail of what happened until the investigation is concluded.
‘It simply would not be right for me to give the Prime Minister’s view in the midst of an ongoing Met Police investigation.’
Mr Johnson delivered a string of jokes about Tory efforts to oust him last night as he hosted a lavish team-building dinner.
The PM entertained his MPs for a meal at a luxury central London hotel hours after Scotland Yard announced the first 20 fines for Partygate lockdown breaches.
Mr Johnson is said to have quipped that no-confidence letters are ‘elastic — they go in and you can pull them out’. He also admitted he is ‘more popular in parts of Kyiv than in parts of Kensington’ but vowed to ‘turn it round’.
The premier’s improved position after the Ukraine crisis erupted was underlined by the warm reception he received from the massed ranks of Tory MPs.
But as they arrived Conservatives were heckled by bereaved families of Covid victims shouting ‘off to another party are we?’
