Are you a liar, Prime Minister? No, I am an ‘honest’ politician and merely got partygate ‘wrong’, says Boris Johnson
Prime Minister Boris Johnson this morning insisted he is an “honest” politician while he did admit to being “inadvertently” wrong in his comments to Parliament about the partygate row.
Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain today, the Prime Minister said that he should not resign over the partygate scandal because he is “getting on with the job that I was elected to do”.
This comes despite ongoing calls for his resignation from opposition MPs as well as his own backbenches after police handed him a fixed penalty notice for attending a celebration for his birthday in No 10.
Johnson is now facing an investigation over misleading Parliament after he told the Commons that no laws were broken in Downing Street.
Asked whether he is honest, the Prime Minister said: “Yes. I think the best way to judge that is to look at what this Government says it’s going to do and what it does.”
“I do my best to represent faithfully and accurately what I believe, and sometimes it’s controversial and sometimes it offends people, but that’s what I do.”
Boris Johnson this morning
In response to a suggestion that some people believe he is a liar, Mr Johnson said: “If you are talking about the statements I’ve made in the House of Commons, I was inadvertently… I was wrong, and I’ve apologised for that.”
Later he said: “I have apologised for the things we got wrong during the pandemic,” as he was asked about breaking the law.
Further pressed on the issue, he said: “With great respect, I’m going to have to ask you to wait until the end of the investigation.”
Mr Johnson then insisted the conclusions of the report will “not remain secret”.
He added: “I will make sure that as soon as I’m able to say something on the conclusion of the investigation, you will have a lot more on it.”
Asked why he should not resign, as Matt Hancock did as health secretary and Allegra Stratton did as Downing Street press secretary, the Prime Minister said: “I’m getting on with the job that I was elected to do and discharge the mandate that I was given and I’m proud of what we have been doing.”
Mr Johnson – along with his wife Carrie Johnson and the Chancellor Rishi Sunak – were fined for breaking Covid laws last month.
MPs have since approved the Privileges Committee launching an inquiry once the police have finished their own investigation into the gatherings.
So far the police have announced they have issued at least 50 fines as part of their investigation.