This is the apology day in British politics. In the morning, the Prime Minister drove to Westminster to explain to the MPs, who had always been assured that there were no parties at 10 Downing Street and that containment rules had not been violated.
“I can start by saying that I understand and share the anger of the entire country that the number 10 officials do not seem to be taking the containment measure seriously. And I can understand how disgusting it must be to think that the people who set the rules don’t follow them, because I was furious when I saw that too, ”said Boris Johnson.
“I apologize unreservedly for the insult he caused to the entire country, and I apologize for the impression he made. I repeat, Mr. President, that since these accusations arose, I have been repeatedly assured that there was no party and that the Covid rules were not violated.“, – said the Prime Minister of Great Britain.
Boris Johnson also announced the start of an internal investigation to clarify the situation. “It goes without saying that in case of violation of the rules there will be disciplinary measures,” he said.
Leader of the opposition Labor Party, Keir Starmer, accused Johnson of “considering the public stupid,” considering it obvious what had happened. Scottish National Party’s Ian Blackford calls for prime minister’s resignation…
In a few hours Boris Johnson’s advisor and former press secretarywho appears in the video laughing and admits the possibility that the party really happened, applied for resignationpromoting a newspaper Time… Allegra Stratton was Boris Johnson’s spokesperson for COP26 and before providing policy advice she worked as a journalist for ITV and the BBC.
“I will regret these comments for the rest of my days and offer my deepest apologies to everyone. I submitted my resignation letter to the Prime Minister this afternoon.“, Says Stratton, who is quoted as saying Timewith.
party or maybe not
The case was solved newspaper Mirror, who mentioned a wine meeting with 40-50 people to celebrate Christmas. After days of denial by the Prime Minister’s Office, on Tuesday night, ITV aired a video that garnered millions of views and sparked outrage in the UK.
In it, Allegra Stratton, who oversaw relations with journalists last year, was in rehearsal for a press conference when asked about the alleged party. “I just saw Twitter posts about the Downing Street Christmas Party Friday night. Do you know about these reports?another British government official asks. In front of the British flags and in the pulpit, Stratton begins by answering:I went homeThen he smiles and adds: “Wait. Wait…“, pretending to be lost.
At the time, millions of Britons were forbidden to hold meetings with family or friends and even say goodbye to relatives on their deathbed. In the UK, about 146 thousand people have died from Covid-19.
This is the latest episode to spark criticism of the British executive after increasing government contracts with friends during the pandemic, renovating Boris Johnson’s Downing Street apartment and chaotic evacuations from Afghanistan.
PM considers new measures to combat transmission of new variant of Covid-19, in micron… A video of an argument can make it difficult to convince people to stick to the new rules.
