London, Thanasis Gavos
Boris Johnson denied that he knew in advance that on May 20, 2020, there would be a gathering of workers in the Downing Street garden at the invitation of his special secretary, who had invited the guests to bring drinks.
The British Prime Minister attended the meeting, with his then adviser Dominique Cummings claiming that he had warned him that it was a party that violated the rules of lockdown in England.
In his first public appearance in six days, Johnson said “no” to the question of whether he had been warned and lied to citizens and parliament when he attributed his presence to the rally in the belief that it was a working meeting.
Asked about this, he initially reiterated that he apologized for any of his own missteps and that he understood how “outrageous” the revelations about multiple Downing Street parties must be for citizens who have made huge sacrifices.
He further added: “I just want to say that no one told me that what we did was, as you say, against the rules, that this event was something that was not a work event. “As I said in the House of Commons, when I went out in the garden I thought I was attending a business meeting.”
Asked again by the journalist, Mr. Johnson reiterated that he could “categorically” say that he had not seen the email-invitation of his special secretary and that no one had warned him. “I would remember that,” he added, essentially refuting Dominic Cummings’ claim.
Asked if he should have resigned if the investigation into the party by senior government official Sue Gray found out that he knew about the party, the British Prime Minister declined to answer, saying that we should see what Ms. Gray would say and tell her be given time to complete the research.
He also apologized because he later thought he should have broken up the rally when he went out into the garden, where he remained for 25 minutes.
Boris Johnson also repeated his apology to the Queen for the two parties that took place on Downing Street on the eve of the funeral of Prince Philip, in which he was not present.
For the first time, on the ‘partygate’ was placed in front of a television camera and the Minister of Finance Risi Sunak, who once again is judged by some commentators that he provided only lukewarm support to the Prime Minister.
Although he reiterated twice that he certainly believes what Boris Johnson said in Parliament, he hastened to leave without answering the question whether he supports the Prime Minister. He recommended patience until the completion of the research by Sue Gray.
Mr Sunak is considered one of Boris Johnson’s most prominent successors in the Conservative leadership, along with Secretary of State Liz Tras.
Earlier, former Secretary of State Jeremy Hunt acknowledged that he had not given up on his leadership ambitions, but noted that much needed to be done to claim leadership, and cited Gray’s inquiry.
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