As the prime minister talked about cabinet jobs, he avoided questions about his own. British editor of ITV News Paul Brand reports.
Boris Johnson faces new allegations that he lied to parliament after photos surfaced of him raising a glass at a leaving party on Downing Street during a blockade.
The Sofia police are also facing questions as to why the prime minister was not fined in connection with the event, when photos show him, with a drink in hand, to a table strewn with food and bottles of wine.
The images received from ITV News were taken on the departure of communications chief Lee Kane on 13 November 2020, just days after Mr Johnson ordered a second national blockade in England.
Asked last December at the municipality if there was a party at number 10 on that date, the prime minister said no and added that he was sure the rules were being followed at all times.
The prime minister has repeatedly denied that Downing Street violated its own rules, including on the date in question.
Labor said there was “no doubt” that Mr Johnson had “lied” to MPs.
Sue Gray’s long-awaited partygate report could be released on Wednesday, according to Downing Street.
UK ITV News Editor Paul Brand exclusively reports on the party’s photos, which show the prime minister drinking with others at number 10 during a news blockade on Monday at 10 p.m.
When the photos were taken, there were at least eight other people in the room at the time when people were not allowed to mingle on social media except to meet one person outside, and at least one person received a fixed notice of punishment in link to an event on that date.
Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper has written to the Independent Police Behavior Service (IOPC), urging her to consider the investigation into Operation Hill’s Hillman for the events at №10 and Whitehall.
Supporters of the prime minister are growing in confidence that he can survive calls for his resignation after receiving just one fine to gather in the cabinet for his 56th birthday.
But there is still nervousness in Westminster that his position could come under new pressure if, as many expect, Mrs Gray is highly critical of the No. 10 and Whitehall culture, leading to repeated breaches of the rules.
The Times reported that Mr Johnson had suggested to Ms Gray that she did not need to publish her report now that the police investigation was over.
The newspaper quoted a Whitehall source as saying, “He asked her if it made sense to do it now that everything was there.”
There was no immediate comment from number 10.
Transport Minister Grant Shaps on Tuesday did not deny the reports.
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He told Sky News: “I was not in the room, so I don’t know that. What exactly was being discussed, I do not know.
“Sometimes things are reported that are not quite accurate, the civil service was there to make sure that all the right processes were followed, so I have little reason to worry about meeting them.
Mr Schaps told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that the prime minister had “deliberately lied” to parliament about leaving because the party was usually a “formally organized thing”.
He suggested that Mr Johnson “drop out” of his office, “because his – probably” employees – told him to go and thank the departing staff member.
The cabinet minister thinks that then the prime minister probably “raises his glass, thanks them, leaves with those red boxes you see in the background and does his job.”
“Probably from his point of view, it was a brief meeting with gratitude,” he added.
Refusing to call it a party, he said it was “certainly a reunion” – but said “it shouldn’t have happened” and believed the prime minister “would be disappointed” to see the images.
“I feel personally upset that I can’t see my own father, so I’m not trying to defend him,” Mr Shaps said.
Sue Gray is preparing to publish her final report. Credit: GOV.UK/PA
In the short term, Mr Johnson’s fate will depend on Tory MPs, who will have to decide whether Ms Gray’s findings are serious enough to justify a push to remove him from office.
Conservative veteran MP Sir Roger Gale, a longtime critic of Mr Johnson, said on Tuesday that it was clear he should leave because he had “misled us out of the box”.
He tweeted: “I believe the prime minister misled HoC out of the box. This is a matter of resignation. I set out my own position. It is now up to my conservative parliamentary colleagues to decide whether or not to provoke a vote of no confidence. “
Mr Johnson appeared in a bullish, defiant mood in the cabinet on Tuesday, despite growing pressure on him to offer his resignation.
He told his ministers that there would never be a cabinet meeting without him reminding them that their government had chaired a period during which unemployment had reached “the lowest level since 1974”.
In response, ministers hit the table, and he even joked that some of them were not born when unemployment was lower.
But there was no mention of an elephant in the form of a photo in the room in the Prime Minister’s introductory remarks, which were filmed for the UK broadcasting pool.
Instead, the prime minister is seeking to quickly shift the focus back to the cost of living crisis, but a number of lawmakers are still worried about hints that their boss may have misled parliament by saying there is no meeting on November 13, 2020.
Conservative MP David Simmonds asked Mr Johnson for an explanation on Tuesday morning.
He said it would be “very difficult” for Mr Johnson to give a satisfactory answer, but added: “I think he could build some protection for how people work, but we need to see this in context. Many of my constituents lost relatives, lost friends and family, and my father-in-law died of Kovid. ”
On Monday, Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross asked the prime minister to explain why he thought his behavior was “acceptable” when most people would consider the photos published by ITV News to be “unjustified and wrong”.
His comments were backed by former Scottish Conservative leader Baroness Davidson, who said Mr Johnson’s position had become untenable.
“Now there is photographic evidence that when the prime minister stood in parliament and was asked directly ‘was there a party at number 10 on that date’ and he said ‘no’, he lied to parliament,” she told Channel 4 News.
A spokesman for number 10 said: “The cabinet office and the police had access to all the information related to their investigations, including photos.
“The metropolitan has completed its investigation and Sue Gray will publish her report in the coming days, at which point the prime minister will address parliament in full.”
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