UK's Johnson faces Parliament test over lockdown party claim

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing a high-stakes showdown in Parliament that could help defuse a crisis over claims that he and his staff held broke coronavirus lockdown rules — or fan the flames even further

LONDON -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced a high-stakes showdown Wednesday in Parliament that could help defuse a crisis over claims that he and his staff held broke coronavirus lockdown rules with illicit parties — or fan the flames even further.

Opponents and allies alike want Johnson to come clean about whether he attended a gathering in May 2020, when Britain was under a strict lockdown imposed by Johnson to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Johnson has so far declined to comment on reports he was at the “bring your own booze” get-together in the garden of his Downing Street residence.

An invitation to the “socially distanced drinks” gathering was emailed to about 100 people by a senior prime ministerial aide. At the time, people in Britain were barred by law from meeting more than one person outside their household.

Johnson’s lunchtime appearance at the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions session in the House of Commons will be his first public appearance since details of the party emerged. On Tuesday, a spokesman declined to comment on the allegations, citing an ongoing investigation by a senior civil servant, Sue Gray, into several alleged parties by government staff.