UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has abandoned efforts to block a possible probe by the MPs into whether he misled the Commons over the Partygate row, currently focusing on delaying the investigation.
Government whips tried to derail Labour-led attempts to trigger a Commons Privileges Committee inquiry into whether his earlier statements to MPs on Partygate amounted to contempt of Parliament. The PM initially insisted that all COVID rules were followed late last year, when allegations of lockdown-busting parties in Downing Street first surfaced.
However, after unease among some of Conservative MPs, the government said it hadtabled an amendment to the Labour motion. The amendment stipulates that MPs’ decision on a parliamentary probe should wait until after the Metropolitan Police inquiry into the Partygate scandal is concluded.
The MPs is due to vote on the Labour motion later on Thursday, when the UK prime minister is slated to be away on an official visit to India.
A Downing Street spokesperson said that the government “has tabled an amendment to Labour’s motion which says that consideration of this matter should take place after the conclusion of the police investigation and the publication of the Cabinet Office [Sue Gray] report, allowing MPs to have all the facts at their disposal”.
The Guardian cited an unnamed Whitehall source as saying that it was not a wrecking amendment and that “now is not the time” to consider the issue. When asked whether the government had been at risk of losing Thursday’s vote, the insider said “no”.
Speaking to reporters on his way to India, Johnson said that he was not thinking about the standoff because it did not matter to most voters.
“I think politics has taught me one thing, which is that you’re better off talking and focusing on the things that matter and the things that make a real difference to the electorate, and not about politicians themselves. […] The best thing is if the investigation is concluded. There is a police investigation that has not concluded. We have to wait for that and then for Sue Gray to have her final say”, BoJo pointed out.
Asked there was a chance he could resign if he receives more police fines for breaking lockdown laws, the PM said, “Not a lot that spring to mind at the moment […]. I can’t think of them right now”.
The remarks followed Johnson's "wholehearted apology" to the House of Commons on Tuesday after he was fined by the Metropolitan Police for participating in a Downing Street party during the coronavirus lockdown in 2020.
BoJo said that the Britons "had a right to expect better of their prime minister", reiterating that he believed that he had done nothing wrong at the time. “That was my mistake and I apologise for it unreservedly”, Johnson added. But he made it clear that he would go on as prime minister.
Partygate Row Under Police Investigation
The ongoing Metropolitan Police probe follows the publication in late January of the initial findings by Sue Gray's report on the Partygate allegations. Gray’s report pointed out that there were "failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No 10 and the Cabinet Office" and that "some of the events should not have been allowed to take place".
As for the Met inquiry, it is dealing with 12 separate events, including six that Johnson is believed to have attended, such as a "bring your own booze" gathering in May 2020 and the PM's birthday celebrations in June 2020. The PM previously claimed that was not aware that he or any staff had broken the rules and considered the events as work-related. BoJo reshuffled his senior staff following the publication of Gray's initial findings, but defied the opposition’s demands to step down.