Lockdown parties by U.K. government staff a 'serious' failure, investigation finds
PM apologizes in Parliament after senior civil servant finds 'failures of leadership and judgment'
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologized Monday for lockdown-flouting parties in Downing Street — but insisted that he and his government can be trusted, even as political rivals blasted his leadership.
Johnson told lawmakers in the House of Commons that he would make changes to the way the government is run in the wake of the "partygate" scandal.
"I get it and I will fix it," he said.
He spoke after senior civil servant Sue Gray found that gatherings by the prime minister and his staff when Britain was under coronavirus restrictions represent a "serious failure" to observe the standards expected of government.
Gray published findings on four gatherings in 2020 and 2021, and police are investigating a further dozen events.
Johnson has rebuffed calls to resign from opposition politicians and some of his own Conservative lawmakers.
In her report, Gray concluded that "failures of leadership and judgment" allowed events to occur that "should not have been allowed to take place."
"Against the backdrop of the pandemic, when the government was asking citizens to accept far-reaching restrictions on their lives, some of the behaviour surrounding these gatherings is difficult to justify," Gray said.
Police probe
Gray's glimpse inside a 10 Downing Street marked by excessive alcohol consumption and staff afraid to speak out about workplace problems are a blow to Johnson, despite the fact that Gray's conclusions relate to just four of the 16 events she investigated.
Her findings on 12 others have been withheld at the request of the police, who last week launched a criminal investigation into the most serious alleged breaches of coronavirus rules. The Metropolitan Police force said it had asked for cuts to Gray's report "to avoid any prejudice to our investigation."
The force said Monday that it would be interviewing party attendees and looking at more than 300 photos and over 500 pages of documents it had received from Gray's team.
Among the events under police investigation are a June 2020 birthday party for Johnson in Downing Street and two gatherings held on the eve of Prince Philip's funeral in April 2021 — a funeral at which the widowed Queen Elizabeth II had to sit alone.
The cuts to Gray's report have led opponents to accuse Johnson of a whitewash.
The allegations that the prime minister and his staff flouted restrictions imposed on the country to curb the spread of the coronavirus have caused public anger, led some Conservative lawmakers to call for Johnson's resignation and triggered intense infighting inside the governing party.
Johnson has denied personal wrongdoing and said he has "absolutely no intention" of resigning.
But Johnson's grip on power has been weakened by the allegations of "bring your own booze" office parties, birthday celebrations and "wine time Fridays."
"The hardship under which citizens across the country worked, lived and sadly even died while observing the government's regulations and guidance rigorously are known only too well," Gray wrote.
"At times it seems there was too little thought given to what was happening across the country in considering the appropriateness of some of these gatherings."
'Heart-wrenching sacrifices' made by public
Opposition Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer said the British public had made "heart-wrenching sacrifices" and endured "a collective trauma" during the pandemic.
"The prime minister took us all for fools," he said. "He held people's sacrifice in contempt. He showed himself unfit for office."
Publication of Gray's report was delayed when the Metropolitan Police force launched its own investigation last week into the most serious alleged breaches of coronavirus rules.
The force said it had asked for Gray's report to make only "minimal reference" to the events being investigated by detectives "to avoid any prejudice to our investigation."
Johnson's opponents accused the government of trying to water down a report that could trigger an attempt to oust the prime minister by his own party. Some Conservative lawmakers said they would push for a no-confidence vote if Gray found Johnson was at serious fault.
Gray did not criticize the prime minister directly, but said "there is significant learning to be drawn from these events which must be addressed immediately across government."
The circumscribed and partial report may give Johnson at least a temporary reprieve from calls for his ouster.
"It's a mess," said Will Walden, a former Johnson aide. "It's probably bad for democracy, but inadvertently good for the PM."
Johnson says report will be published
The government initially refused to promise that it would publish Gray's full findings once the police investigation is finished. But after pressure from Conservative legislators, Johnson's office committed to publishing her updated report.
Johnson urged his critics to wait for the conclusions of the police investigation.
But one Conservative legislator, Andrew Mitchell, said in the House of Commons that Johnson "no longer has my support."
Another, Aaron Bell, recalled attending his grandmother's small, socially distanced funeral in May 2020 and asked: "Does the prime minister think I'm a fool?"
Former Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May said that either Johnson and those around him "had not read the rules, or didn't understand what they meant — or they didn't think the rules applied to them. Which was it?"
Johnson could be interviewed by detectives as part of their probe and may face a fine if he is found to have breached the law.
Johnson, meanwhile, was trying to change the subject from his personal woes, marking the second anniversary of Brexit on Monday by touting economic opportunities outside the European Union.
The U.K. officially left the now 27-nation bloc on Jan. 31, 2020, though it remained part of the EU's economic structures for another 11 months.
Since then, the upheaval of the pandemic has obscured the economic ructions caused by the end of frictionless trade with Britain's biggest economic partner. Britain's economy is growing after entering recession amid pandemic lockdowns, but trade with the EU has fallen since Brexit introduced customs checks and other hurdles.
Johnson vowed Monday to unlock the potential of Brexit, unveiling a "Brexit Freedoms" bill that the government says will slash red tape for British businesses by amending laws that were carried over from the U.K.'s years as an EU member.
Opponents say the bill will just make it easier for the government to change laws without Parliament's approval.
With a file from CBC News
