Johnson appeared before Parliament this Monday after the partial publication of the report prepared by public official Sue Gray, whom the conservative ruler had commissioned to determine whether the social distancing measures in force by Covid-19 were violated in those meetings.
In his report, Gray concluded that at the 2020 and 2021 Downing Street events there were serious failures of leadership and judgment on the part of staff in the Prime Minister’s office.
Against the background of the pandemic, and at a time when the government was asking citizens to abide by the harsh restrictions imposed, some observant behavior in these meetings is very difficult to justify, the report said.
Johnson himself admitted days ago that he attended one of those celebrations, with drinks in between, in Downing Street Gardens in May 2020, although he claimed that he always thought it was a work meeting.
Shortly after it transpired that the ruler also had a birthday party in his office, attended by more than 30 people.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Johnson apologized for the way things were handled at his official residence and vowed to learn from mistakes made.
He also admitted that asking for forgiveness is not enough, so he announced that he will restructure the functioning of the Government to prevent the problems detected by Gray from recurring.
Following the release of the report, which was not published in full so as not to interfere with an independent investigation by London Police, critics of the Prime Minister redoubled their calls for him to resign.
Johnson, however, remained unmoved by diatribes launched at him by opposition lawmakers, and by several of his own Conservative coreligionists in Parliament.
It is necessary to wait for the investigation carried out by the Police to conclude, repeated the president in the midst of a heated debate that included the expulsion from the parliamentary chamber of the representative of the Scottish National Party Ian Blackford for calling him a liar.
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