Johnson to face lawmakers at PMQs

26/1/2022 19:14

        British Prime Minister Boris
        Johnson must change the culture of Downing Street after a series
        of revelations that staff partied while ordinary people were
        grappling with COVID-19 lockdowns, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss
        said on Wednesday.
        
        Johnson, who in 2019 won the biggest Conservative majority
        in more than 30 years, is braced for the publication of an
        official investigation into claims that there were multiple
        boozy Downing Street parties during lockdowns.
        
        It was not immediately clear when the results of that
        investigation by Cabinet Office official Sue Gray would be
        published, especially as police have opened their own
        investigation.
        
        Truss, tipped as a possible future prime minister if Johnson
        is toppled, said Downing Street had not yet been given the
        findings of the Gray report but that it would come out very
        soon.
        
        Asked about the claims that Johnson and his staff had
        partied at the heart of the British state while ordinary people
        were banned from even bidding farewell to their dying relatives
        in person, Truss said some of the reports were concerning.
        
        "There clearly needs to be a change in culture," Truss told
        the BBC. "We need to get the results of the report, we need to
        look at the results and fix the issues there are."
        
        Asked if she had leadership ambitions, Truss said Johnson,
        57, had done a great job as prime minister by delivering Brexit
        and responding to the COVID pandemic. Truss said she was 100%
        supportive of Johnson.
        
        Johnson has given a variety of explanations about the
        parties: first he said no rules had been broken but then he
        apologised to the British people for the apparent hypocrisy of
        such gatherings.
        
        He has denied an allegation he was warned that a "bring your
        own booze" lockdown gathering on May 20, 2020, which he says he
        thought was a work event, was inappropriate.
        
        ITV reported on Monday that Johnson and his now wife Carrie
        had attended a surprise party of up to 30 people for his
        birthday in the Cabinet Room at Downing Street in June 2020,
        when indoor gatherings were banned.
        
        To trigger a leadership challenge, 54 of the 359
        Conservative MPs in parliament must write letters of no
        confidence to the chairman of the party's 1922 Committee.