By Guy Faulconbridge and Michael Holden
LONDON (Reuters) – The accusation by former senior adviser to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that he lied to Parliament about a lockdown party at his official residence is absurd, Johnson’s deputy said on Tuesday.
Johnson faces the most serious crisis of his term after revelations about meetings during periods of lockdown against Covid-19, when Britons could not say goodbye to relatives and while the queen mourned the death of her husband.
Taken to the country’s top political office to “deliver Brexit”, Johnson won his party’s biggest majority in 30 years, but now faces calls to resign from his opponents and even his own party colleagues.
Asked whether the prime minister would be at a loss if he was proven to have lied about the Downing Street parties, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said: “See, the suggestion that he lied is preposterous.”
“He made it very clear in the House of Commons, he answered questions about it, saying he believed this was going to be a working event,” Raab told the Radio Times. However, Raab agreed in later interviews that, on principle, if a minister deliberately lies to parliament, it is a matter of resignation.
Johnson last week apologized to Parliament for attending the Downing Street party on May 20, 2020. He stated that he thought it was a work event, and that he attended for 25 minutes to thank the staff.
“I implicitly believed that this was a work event, but in hindsight, I should have sent everyone inside,” Johnson told Parliament on Jan. 12.
But Dominic Cummings, one of the architects of Britain’s departure from the European Union and a former senior adviser who left the government after bitter disagreements in November 2020, said Johnson had agreed to hold the employee get-together over drinks.
Cummings said he and at least one other adviser told Johnson’s principal private secretary (PPS) Martin Reynolds, the official who invited people to the party, that it should not happen.
The alert was sent via email, according to Cummings.
“I told PPS that the invitation broke the rules,” he said. “The idea that the PPS was challenged by the two most senior people in the building, said they would check with the prime minister and did not – is not credible.”
Raab said he will not speculate on hypotheses and has repeatedly refused to say how the two versions of events can be reconciled.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge)
know more
+ SP: Man dies standing, leaning against car, and scene scares residents on the coast
+ One twin became vegan, the other ate meat. Check the result
+ Reincarnation in history: an age-old belief
+ Andressa Urach asks for money on the internet: ‘Help me pay my card bill’
+ Horoscope: check today’s forecast for your sign
+ CNH: see what you need to know for the application and renewal
+ See which were the most stolen cars in SP in 2021
+ Expedition identifies giant squid responsible for ship sinking in 2011
+ Everything you need to know before buying a crockpot
+ US Agency warns: never wash raw chicken meat
+ What is known about fluorone?
+ Trick to squeeze lemons becomes a craze on social media
+ IPVA 2022 SP: see how to consult and pay the tax
#Absurd #British #prime #minister #lied #party #lockdown #deputy #ISTOÉ #DINHEIRO