Prime Minister Boris Johnson admits guilt at last – but serial liar refuses to resign
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak have both been fined by the Metropolitan Police for breaching Covid regulations.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson made the following statement yesterday:
Today I have received a fixed penalty notice from the Metropolitan Police relating to an event in Downing Street on 19th June 2020, and let me say immediately that I have paid the fine and I once again offer a full apology.
And in a spirit of openness and humility, I want to be completely clear about what happened on that date.
My day began shortly after 7am, and I chaired eight meetings in No10, including the Cabinet Committee deciding Covid strategy, I visited a school in Hemel Hempstead, which took me out of Downing Street for over four hours.
And amongst all these engagements, on a day that happened to be my birthday, there was a brief gathering in the Cabinet Room shortly after 2pm, lasting for less than 10 minutes, during which people I work with kindly passed on their good wishes.
And I have to say in all frankness, at the time, it did not occur to me that this might have been a breach of the rules.
But of course the police have found otherwise and I fully respect the outcome of their investigation.
I understand the anger that many will feel that I myself fell short when it came to observing the very rules which the Government I lead had introduced to protect the public, and I accept in all sincerity that people had a right to expect better.
Now I feel an even greater sense of obligation to deliver on the priorities of the British people:
strengthening our economy,
creating jobs and opportunities,
levelling up the whole United Kingdom,
now, of course, ensuring that Putin fails in Ukraine, and easing the burden imposed on hard-working families caused by higher energy prices.
I will take forward that task with due humility, but with maximum determination to fulfil my duty and do what is best for the country I serve.
Whether this short statement, which addresses transgressions commited on just ONE day during lockdown, will be enough to save his political life is now in the hands of Conservative MPs, and Conservative MPs alone.
If it was left to the people of the country to decide Johnson’s fate – those millions of people who stuck to the Covid rules imposed by this government – there can be little doubt Johnson would be finished.
The Prime Minister said it himself: people had a right to expect better. If he had a scintilla of honour, Johnson would resign without delay.