(London) British Prime Minister Boris Johnson responded to the questionnaire sent by London police in the investigation of gatherings in Downing Street during confinement, his services said on Friday evening.
Posted at 6:26 p.m.
The head of the British government, whose political survival is at stake in this case, in accordance with Scotland Yard’s request, returned the survey questionnaire within the seven-day period which had been set, according to Downing Street.
A dozen receptions are targeted by the police investigation, which would have been spread over eight dates in 2020 and 2021.
Eight days ago, the London police announced that they would contact “more than 50 people” to obtain their statements in this scandalous case in the United Kingdom.
Scotland Yard had stressed that the questionnaires had a “legal status” and had to be completed “with sincerity”. In the event of a proven violation, offenders risk a fine.
Excluding any resignation despite calls to do so from the opposition and some members of his own Conservative party, Boris Johnson has been fighting for several weeks to save his job. The 57-year-old leader finds himself weakened by the succession of revelations about these sometimes festive events in places of power during the pandemic, while the British saw their social contacts severely hampered by health restrictions against COVID-19.
After publication of an internal preliminary report pinning down “errors of leadership and judgment”, his fate remains suspended on the conclusions of the police investigation. If they overwhelmed him, the threshold of 54 Conservative MPs required to trigger a vote of no confidence could quickly be reached.