(LONDON) Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday apologized to Downing Street security and cleaners a day after an administrative investigation into ‘partygate’ was published that found they were disrespected .
Posted at 10:14 a.m.
Despite the harsh conclusions for Boris Johnson from the report by senior civil servant Sue Gray on the parties organized in Downing Street during the confinements, the head of government has ruled out resigning.
If he said he took “full responsibility for everything that happened”, he considers it his duty to “continue” his work.
In her report, Sue Gray says Downing Street cleanup crews had to mop up spilled red wine, at least one of the revelers vomited and there was an altercation between two people at a party in June 2020 marked by “excessive consumption of alcohol by certain individuals”.
She cited “multiple examples of disrespect and mistreatment” from revelers towards cleaners and security guards.
Boris Johnson “apologized to a number of staff yesterday. He discussed it with others this morning. He was appalled by this behavior,” his spokesperson said Thursday.
Rules in Downing Street have been changed to prohibit the consumption of alcohol in the office, except when entertaining with outside guests, he said.
The “partygate” has seriously damaged the credibility of Boris Johnson: three out of five Britons believe that he should resign, according to a YouGov poll published after the publication of the report.
Boris Johnson met Tory MPs on Wednesday evening, to whom he told media reports that one of his predecessors, Winston Churchill, who was a heavy drinker, would not have been able to win World War II if Downing Street had imposed a total ban on alcohol at the time.
Partygate has prompted 19 Conservative MPs to publicly call for Boris Johnson’s resignation, but most believe that now is not the time to change leaders, in the midst of the war in Ukraine.
If 54 majority MPs turn against him, Boris Johnson risks finding himself targeted by a motion of no confidence, nearly three years after his triumphant arrival in Downing Street in the midst of the Brexit psychodrama.