Boris Johnson Clashes With Opposition in Wake of Lockdown Parties Report

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 25: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson departs 10 Downing Street for PM
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Oliver JJ Lane

Boris Johnson addressed Parliament Wednesday hours after the publication of the internal investigation into the government’s failure to uphold its own Covid lockdown laws, and while the PM offered his own apologies he also clashed with his political opponents, pointing out they too are under police investigation for breaking lockdown and jibing his Labour opposite Sir Keir Starmer as “Sir Beer Korma”.

Speaking to Parliament and the nation early Wednesday afternoon, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he wished to set out his view on the day’s proceedings, remarking “this is the first chance I’ve had to set out the context”. The remark likely referred to the Prime Minister’s reluctance to discuss events leading to this point, frequently citing an ongoing police investigation or the unreleased Sue Gray report as for why he kept his own counsel.

Pointing out that the now-released investigation looked at just eight events on eight days over 600 days of coronavirus government, the Prime Minister said staff continued to attend Downing Street while much of the rest of the government and great swathes of the country worked from home because of the nature of their work was caught in coronavirus rules exemption.

Sticking to his long-held line that he had not lied to Parliament because things had happened that he wasn’t aware of, the Prime Minister he took “full responsibility”, but told Parliament:

…this is not to mitigate or to extenuate. I had no knowledge of those subsequent proceedings because I was simply was not there. I have been as surprised and disappointed as anyone in this house as the revelations unfolded, and frankly, Mr Speaker I have been appalled by some of the behaviour, particularly in the treatment of the security and the cleaning staff. And I would like to apologise to those members of staff, and I expect anyone who behaved in that way to apologise for now.

I am happy to set on the record now, that when I came to this house and said in alls sincerity that the rules and guidance had been followed at all times, it was what I believed to be true. It was certainly the case when I was present at gatherings to wish staff farewell, and the house will note my attendance at these moments, brief as it was, has not been found to be outside of the rules.

Labour leader Starmer was the first to reply to the Prime Minister, appearing to land some blows in pointing out that the Prime Minister being fined for an offence while in office damaged voters’ faith in public institutions and saying, gravely, that “lawmakers should not be lawbreakers”.

Nevertheless he still left himself open to counterattack from the Prime Minister, when Starmer insisted he had showed true leadership and had not broken any rules. Johnson hit back at this claim, calling his opposite “Sir Beer Korma” in clear reference to the fact the Labour leader allegedly shared Indian food and beer with party colleagues during lockdown, something for which he is presently being investigated by police for.

Starmer, for his part, insisted the group meal was a “perfectly legal takeaway”.

https://mobile.twitter.com/MrHarryCole/status/1529419084470812676

Among the findings in the Sue Gray report are that leadership failures in Downing Street led to rule-breaking at the heart of the government which created and used the police to enforce lockdown rules in the first place. While it is still yet to be seen how these revelations will impact the Johnson government in the future, one particular claim that may stick with the public is Gray’s comments on how senior Downing Street officials treated the staff. She wrote:

I found that some staff had witnessed or been subjected to behaviours at work which they had felt concerned about but at times felt unable to raise properly. I was made aware of multiple examples of a lack of respect and poor treatment of security and cleaning staff. This was unacceptable.

Being discourteous to junior employees — like cleaners, as Gray mentions — is generally extremely frowned upon in the United Kingdom.

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