In parliament
So yes: Johnson admits garden party attendance – opposition calls for resignation
Boris Johnson has now admitted to having attended the garden party at 10 Downing Street
© Leon Neal / Getty Images
A party on Downing Street during the Corona lockdown is becoming an ever bigger problem for Boris Johnson. Now the British Prime Minister had to apologize to Parliament.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has admitted attending a garden party at the government headquarters on Downing Street during the corona lockdown. He “apologized heartily” to MPs in London on Wednesday, saying he took responsibility for the “mistakes” that were made. The head of government said that at the time he assumed a working meeting in accordance with the applicable pandemic rules. The Labor opposition immediately demanded his resignation.
Millions of Britons made “extraordinary sacrifices” during the first corona lockdown in 2020, the prime minister said in his apology. However, he rejected the opposition’s calls for resignation.
“His defense is ridiculous”
“His defense that he did not know he was at a party is so ridiculous that it is an insult to the British public,” Labor leader Keir Starmer said in parliament. He accused Johnson of “lying in print”.
The revelations about a garden party in May 2020 at the government headquarters on Downing Street with dozens of guests had put Johnson’s government under heavy pressure in the past few days. At that time, the country was in strict corona lockdown and even meetings of more than two people outdoors were prohibited.
Boris Johnson invited more than a hundred guests to the party
According to media reports, more than a hundred guests received an invitation to the garden party on May 20, 2020, including the Prime Minister and his current wife, Carrie. Around 40 government employees accepted the invitation. The London police said on Tuesday that they were investigating possible violations of lockdown regulations at the seat of government.
Johnson’s government had already come under severe criticism several times in public and within its own ranks for alleged violations of the self-imposed corona rules.