Boris Johnson faces MP questions ahead of 'partygate' report
CBC
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is bracing for the conclusions of an investigation into allegations of lockdown-breaching parties, a document that could help him end weeks of scandal and discontent, or bring his time in office to an abrupt close.
Senior civil servant Sue Gray could turn in her report to the government as soon as Wednesday. Johnson's office has promised to publish its findings, and the prime minister will address Parliament about it soon after.
Gray's office wouldn't comment on timing, and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the Conservative government hadn't yet received the report Wednesday morning.
"I expect we won't have much longer to wait," she told the BBC.
Truss said she couldn't guarantee the government would publish the full report, saying there could be "security issues that mean parts of it are problematic to publish. But we will absolutely publish the findings of the report."
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.
Wednesday's headlines provided more bad news for Johnson, whose popularity in opinion polls has plunged amid the scandal. The Guardian's front-page headline spoke of "PM's peril," while the left-leaning Daily Mirror said bluntly: "Number's up, PM." The right-of-centre Daily Mail differed, declaring Britain: "A nation that has lost all sense of proportion."
Johnson has urged his critics to wait for Gray's conclusions, but his "wait and see" defence weakened Tuesday when police said they had opened a criminal investigation into some of the gatherings. The prime minister reiterated that call on Wednesday, as he faced heated questions and debate at Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons.
Labour Leader Keir Starmer said in the House the U.K. is now facing the "shameful spectacle" of having the prime minister subject to a police probe.
"The problem with the Labour Party today is that he's a lawyer, not a leader," Johnson said, before pointing to his government's willingness to take the "tough decisions" and getting the "big calls" right through the pandemic.
Ian Blackford, who leads the Scottish National Party in the House, accused Johnson of "partying" while the public suffered.
"It's time to get this over with," Blackford urged Conservative MPs. "Show the prime minister the door."
Johnson, who again refused to comment on the ongoing probe and defended his government's record, said Blackford was wrong when he last made this point and is still wrong today.
London's Metropolitan Police force said "a number of events" at Johnson's Downing Street office and other government buildings met the force's criteria for investigating the "most serious and flagrant" breaches of coronavirus rules.
