Because of the expected censorship, hardly anyone now expects serious allegations to be made against Johnson.
(Photo: AP)
London The scandal surrounding the lockdown parties at British government headquarters has not let go of Boris Johnson. The internal investigation report was initially only published in a heavily censored version on Monday. But the top official Sue Gray finds clear words on the ten pages.
During the corona pandemic, there was a failure of leadership and judgment at British government headquarters, Gray judges. “Some celebrations should not have been allowed.” Some behaviors are also “difficult to justify”.
Premier Johnson then announced personnel consequences in his team. However, he again ruled out his own resignation. “I understand and I will fix it,” he said in parliament. “We will make changes to continue the work we were elected to do.” Labor opposition leader Keir Starmer accused Johnson of shifting the blame “as always”. “Of course he won’t resign because he’s a man with no shame.”
The ‘Partygate’ scandal has dominated British domestic politics since December, when media revealed the first government celebrations during the spring and winter 2020 coronavirus lockdowns. Later, more and more violations of the rules became known.
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In all, Gray studied 16 celebrations on 12 different dates. She interviewed more than 70 people in Downing Street and evaluated emails and WhatsApp messages. However, the published report is incomplete because the London police surprisingly launched investigations into the party participants last week.
No details on celebrations Johnson attended
In order not to influence them, Gray now withheld many insights – including all details of the celebrations at which Johnson was personally present. A total of twelve celebrations are being investigated by the police. She can therefore not comment in detail on individual events, but only give a general assessment, Gray explained.
The delay by Scotland Yard initially comes in handy for the prime minister. She took the momentum out of the scandal. At times last week, it looked as if Conservative MPs were about to vote no-confidence in Johnson. Since then, the outrage in the group seems to have abated somewhat. “My feeling is that sentiment among MPs and Members has turned in favor of the Prime Minister,” commented Paul Goodman, editor of the blogger site Conservative Home.
According to a survey, 55 percent of party members found the excitement about the parties exaggerated. In the past few days, Johnson has tried to push the scandal out of the headlines with a flood of announcements.
He repeatedly promised to reduce bureaucracy after Brexit and held out the prospect of further military support for Ukraine.
His followers work on fickle MPs to keep them from submitting letters of no-confidence. It would take 54 such letters to force a no-confidence vote. So far, seven MPs have publicly spoken out in favor of Johnson’s resignation.
However, the Gray report reminds us that Johnson is not yet safe. In particular, the indication that the police are also investigating the Prime Minister for serious violations of the Corona rules keeps the pressure up. He had repeatedly claimed in Parliament that Downing Street had adhered to all corona rules. Misleading Parliament is a violation of the Ministerial Code and therefore grounds for resignation.
Johnson is counting on the police investigation to last long enough for the scandal to be forgotten. But political observers expect his reputation to be permanently damaged. The public seems to have already made their decision. Polls show a majority of Brits believe Johnson should resign.
There is also a risk that Johnson’s internal opponents will release photos and other incriminating evidence to the media, fueling the scandal. The British themselves will soon have the opportunity to express their displeasure: local elections are in May.
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