Boris Johnson offers ‘full apology’ for breaking Covid rules and says he has paid Partygate fine – live news

Labour MP Chris Bryant has joined David Lammy is arguing against the claim that the UK cannot change prime minister because of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

He tweeted several examples of when Britain has changed prime minister during wartime – and it a pretty extensive list.

Boris Johnson’s foreign secretary Liz Truss has leapt to the prime minister’s defence this evening, claiming he is “delivering for Britain”.

She wrote:

The Prime Minister has apologised and taken responsibility for what happened in Downing Street.

He and the Chancellor are delivering for Britain on many fronts including on the international security crisis we face. They have my 100% backing.

She is coincidentally also the bookies’ favourite to be the next Conservative party leader and UK prime minister, as short as 4/1 with some outlets.

The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice have just released an emotional statement criticising Boris Johnson following his fine for breaking coronavirus laws.

In an open letter to the prime minister, the group says:

You broke those laws intended to keep us safe. You trampled on the sacrifices we and all the British public made.

You paid a fine. Our loved ones paid with their lives.

If a new variant emerges how will you have the moral authority to impose any measures needed to protect the public?

Read the full letter here.

David Lammy has expanded on his view that Boris Johnson should leave No 10.

Referencing wider issues of populism and the type of politics promoted by the former US president Donald Trump, he says:

If you are found to have breached the law, then of course you should [resign].

I do not want to live in a country where populism is everything, where Donald Trump’s set of rules rule the way and where you can break the rules, apparently say you are sorry but effectively take the British public for fools.

For all of those reasons, it is unconscionable that now Boris Johnson and his chancellor remain in office as if nothing happened.

Asked if there is any credibility to the Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross’s point that Johnson should remain in post because of the war in Ukraine, Lammy adds:

He has no point at all. In fact, overnight there has been some discussion about whether parliament should be recalled if chemical weapons were used in Ukraine and we in fact find out that there were Tory whips suggesting it should not be recalled because they don’t want to discuss Partygate.

Let me just say very clearly; the second world war remains the most major event that affected Europe in the last 100 years and … Churchill replaced Chamberlain. The Battle of the Somme saw more British soldiers die than at any point over the last century and, at that point, Lloyd George replaced Asquith. Of course we have lost prime ministers during wartime, in fact in Afghanistan we had changes of prime minister.

The shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, has become the latest in a long line of opposition politicians calling on the prime minister to resign.

He evoked memories of his own personal experiences during the pandemic, as well as the experiences of “millions” of others across the UK.

The Labour frontbencher told Sky News:

He says it didn’t occur to him that he had broken the rules. It occurred to millions of your listeners when they couldn’t attend care homes to visit their loved ones, it occurred to them when they couldn’t hold the hands of loved ones in hospital, some of them losing their lives, it occurred to them when they couldn’t attend funerals.

It certainly occurred to me when I did not have birthday parties for my three children or I couldn’t be with my great-uncle, who died at the age of 100 because of the pandemic.

This is taking people for fools. What is clear is that he broke the rules, he breached the law, he has now been subject to a criminal sanction, he broke the ministerial code and he lied to Parliament … in our system, when you break just one of those rules then you should resign.

A number of Boris Johnson’s loyalists among his cabinet have come out tonight in support of the prime minister – despite him being found to have broken the laws he wrote.

The secretary of state for Scotland, Alister Jack, said Boris Johnson remained the right person to lead the country.

He said:

The prime minister has, rightly, apologised and accepted responsibility for actions which he knows have angered a great many people.

However, he remains the right person to lead this country at such a crucial time and we need to get behind him so that he can focus on dealing with the appalling situation in Ukraine and on delivering for everyone in this country.

Treasury minister Simon Clarke has give his “full support” to both the prime minister and chancellor.

Clarke said on Twitter:

The PM and chancellor have my full support. Their efforts during the pandemic have ensured the UK is now free of restrictions and avoided economic catastrophe. I for one am grateful to them for everything they have done for our country.

The PM has apologised and accepted the police’s decision today. He has accepted Sue Gray’s recommendations in full and instituted a comprehensive programme of reform in No 10. It’s time to get on with the job of governing at a crucial time at home and abroad.

He is now being questioned on the number of denials he has made since the Partygate allegations first emerged.

Johnson insists he was not lying when he denied breaking the law because he spoke in “completely good faith”.

He says:

When I said that, I spoke in completely good faith because, as I’ve said to you just now, at the time I was standing up for nine minutes in the cabinet room where I work every day, it didn’t occur to me that I was in breach of the rules. I now humbly accept that I was.

I think the best thing I can do now, having settled the fine, is focus on the job in hand. That’s what I’m going to do.

The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed the prime minister has revised the time he says spent at his own birthday party down from 10 minutes to just nine minutes during this interview.

Asked if he expects to receive more fines from the police, he says:

You know, I, I … if there are, I’m sure that you will be the first to know. Or amongst the very first to know.

Despite being obviously uncomfortable answering the question about more fines potentially coming his way, it is worth noting that Johnson shook his head while giving the above answer.

And, with that, the interview is over. I’m sure there will be plenty of reaction from that coming shortly – stay tuned.

Johnson is told that of course this wasn’t an isolated incident and there have been 50 fines issued by the police so far.

He is asked if he takes responsibility for a culture at Downing Street where people thought this kind of behaviour was acceptable.

The prime minister replies that he takes “full responsibility”. However, due to the square footage of No 10, “he can’t be everywhere at once”. He says:

Of course I take full responsibility for everything … but don’t forget Downing Street is about 15,000 square feet, it’s got a lot of officials working in it, hundreds and hundreds of officials.

I couldn’t be everywhere at once but clearly once it became obvious what had been happening, the types of behaviour we had seen, we have taken steps to change things.

Downing Street has been radically transformed, it’s a very different organisation and we are focusing 100% on delivering our agenda.

When asked if he will resign after becoming the first prime minister to have broken the law, Johnson says:

I have, of course, paid the FPN and I apologise once again for the mistake that I made and, as I said just now, I want to be able to get on and deliver the mandate that I have but also to tackle the problems that the country must face right now and make sure that we get on with delivering for the people of this country. That is my priority.

Johnson is reminded by the interviewer that the problem he faces is a lack of trust in him. He is asked if the fact he broke his own laws diminishes his respect among the public.

He says once again:

I believe it is my job to get on and deliver for the people of this country and that’s what I’m going to do.

Boris Johnson has said that he understands the anger people will feel that he “fell short” when it came to keeping to the law.

Amid calls for him to resign, he says this experience has only made him more determined to level up across the UK and ensure Russia’s war on Ukraine does not succeed.

He says:

I understand the anger that many will feel that I myself fell short when it came to observing the very rules that the government I lead introduced to protect the public and I accept, in all sincerity, that people have the right to expect better.

Now I feel an even greater sense of obligation to deliver on the priorities of the British people, strengthening our economy, creating jobs and opportunities, levelling up across the whole of the United Kingdom and now, of course, ensuring Putin fails in Ukraine and easing the burden on hard-working families caused by higher energy prices.

I will take forward that task with due humility but with maximum determination to fulfil my duty and do what is best for the country I serve. Thanks very much.

Now for some questions.

The prime minister says he wants to explain events of that day “in the spirit of openness and humility”.

He says his day began at 7am when he chaired eight meetings inside No 10 and visited a school in Hemel Hempstead for four hours.

He goes on:

Amongst all these engagements on a day that happened to be my birthday there was a brief gathering in the cabinet room shortly after 2pm, lasting for less than 10 minutes, during which people I work with kindly passed on their good wishes.

I have to say, in all frankness, at that time it did not occur to me that this might have been a breach of the rules – but, of course, the police have found otherwise and I fully respect the outcome of their investigation.

The prime minister, despite being fined for his actions, still appears to be confused about what – if anything – he did wrong, it would seem from his statement so far.

The prime minister Boris Johnson is speaking from his Chequers residency about the fine from the Metropolitan police for breaking lockdown laws.

He starts by saying:

Today I’ve received a fixed-penalty notice from the Metropolitan police relating to an event in Downing Street on 19 June 2020.

Let me say immediately I have paid the fine and I once again offer a full apology.

2h ago18:02

Andrew Sparrow

Savanta ComRes has also released the results of a snap poll on Boris Johnson and, like YouGov (see 5.16pm), it says more than half of people think he should resign. But it says that this is slightly lower than the equivalent figure on the day the Sue Gray report was published. It says:

Three in five (61%) UK adults say that the prime minister should resign now that he has been issued with a fixed penalty notice in relation to the Partygate scandal, according to a snap poll by Savanta ComRes.

Around one in three (31%) believe that the PM should not resign, including half (52%) of those that voted Conservative at the last general election.

Crucially, though, the proportion that say he should resign now is marginally less than the 69% who said that the PM should resign after the publication of Sue Gray’s initial findings in January.

And this is from Chris Hopkins, political research director at the company.

The fact here that a smaller proportion of the public think the PM should resign now than did in January, despite being issued with a fixed penalty notice, feels crucial, and will potentially make Conservative MPs think twice before writing any letters of no confidence. There’s an implication in these findings that the worst is over when it comes to Partygate and, although I’m not sure that’s strictly true, the impact that these fines will have is perhaps less than what we would have thought earlier in the year.

That is all from me for tonight. My colleague Tom Ambrose is taking over now.

Boris Johnson will pay his fine, and won’t contest it, the Telegraph reports.

This was implicit in what his supporters have been saying earlier.

Earlier this year Sir Roger Gale was one of the Tory MPs saying Boris Johnson should resign. But now not only is he saying (like other Johnsonsceptic Conservatives) that it would be wrong to get rid of the prime minister now; on Radio 4’s PM programme Gale said that Keir Starmer was being “wildly irresponsible” in calling for his resignation. Gale said:

I believe that the leader of the opposition, for example, has acted wildly responsibly in the international interests in calling for the prime minister’s resignation at a time when the prime minister is seeking to lead this country, and the coalition actually, through a very, very difficult and dangerous set of circumstances.

Asked when it would be right to replace Johnson, Gale replied:

Once we have a resolution to the international crisis, once we have a resolution to the situation in Ukraine, then we can allow ourselves the luxury of addressing domestic issues like this, but now is absolutely not the moment.

Gale also implied that he thought Johnson had lied to the Commons about the No 10 parties. But he also claimed that the convention that a minister who lies to the Commons should resign “went out of the window some time ago”. Priti Patel, the home secretary, misled MPs about a visa centre in Calais, but did not resign, he said.

In fact, it is not a convention; it is rule number three in the ministerial code.

Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, is probably more loyal to Boris Johnson than anyone else in cabinet. She likes him personally (her Commons office was close to him at one point) and under any other leader should probably have never made it to cabinet. She has posted this on Twitter.

This seems yet more evidence that Johnson intends to pivot straight from ‘I’ll address this when the investigation is over’ to ‘I’ve apologise already’.

In fact, Johnson has not been clear about what happened at the surprise birthday party, because he has refused to answer questions on it. And previous reports have said it lasted for between 20 and 30 minutes.

Mark Drakeford, the Welsh first minister, says Boris Johnson must resign.

Ruth Davidson, the former Scottish Conservative leader, says Boris Johnson should resign now.

According to a snap YouGov poll, 75% of Britons think Boris Johnson lied about breaking lockdown rules, and 57% think he should resign.