“The most crucial moment of his career? Maybe well …”, Beth Rigby, political chief of the Sky News news channel, had estimated a few minutes before Boris Johnson’s speech in the House of Commons, for the traditional session of questions to the Prime Minister on Wednesday noon. In unusual silence, Boris Johnson spoke to “offer his most flattering apologies” to the British. “I understand their anger and their rage” he began before admitting to having been present, “for 25 minutes”, at the drink organized by his secretary on May 20, 2020 in the garden of his residence, while the country was in confinement and that all social interaction outside the home was prohibited.
In his defense, and despite the evidence, Johnson claimed that it was “a working meeting” even though he can understand “that millions of Britons may think differently.” He insisted that the Downing Street garden, where this pot took place from 6 p.m. was “constantly used as an extension of the offices” for sanitary reasons and that this meeting was in his eyes “technically. “legal and authorized. He admitted, however, that this pot “should not have been organized” and that “the event should have been conducted differently”.
“I understand that people feel that those who make the rules don’t even follow them,” he added. Finally, it is Boris Johnson who best sums up the shock created by this affair among the population.
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“The party is over”
The head of government had adopted a contrite and humble air for the occasion, far from his usual exuberance. That did not stop Keir Starmer, Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labor Party, from calling for his resignation and mocking the apologies of a Prime Minister caught in the act of lying and hypocrisy. For the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey, also calling for the resignation of the Prime Minister, “the party is over”. It must be said that the email sent by Martin Reynolds, Boris Johnson’s principal secretary to a hundred people – and which leaked – leaves little doubt. He invites us to “enjoy the sunny days together” in the garden of Downing Street and “to bring your own bottle”. In short, we were closer to a moment of relaxation between colleagues than to a “brainstorming” session.
While Keir Starmer and other MPs like Scottish nationalist Ian Blackford on Wednesday called Boris Johnson a “die-hard liar” or “public danger” within the House itself, the Prime Minister’s only parade was to repeat his apologies by loop. And to ask his detractors to await the conclusions of the internal investigation entrusted to Sue Gray, a senior official, on the cocktails and other “events” organized in Downing Street during various periods of confinement.
A strategy to save time? Risk. By seeming to link his fate to the conclusions of this investigation, Boris Johnson is playing big. Is he ready to resign if the report is unfavorable to him? Hard to believe. In the meantime, the Conservative Party is meeting this followingnoon and some Tories like Roger Gale, Conservative MP since 1983, have already made up their minds: “the Conservative Party needs to change its leader”.
Even though the Conservative Party likes to make and break its prime ministers, the process can be long and the road winding. Journalist Beth Rigby recalls that “Theresa May was in the Departures Hall for a very long time.” Her agony was indeed long before the party decided to replace her in the summer of 2019 by Boris Johnson. “The party will be watching the polls very closely over the next few days. If Johnson’s popularity does not rise his days will be numbered,” adds Rigby.
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In the meantime, the British editorial writers have given themselves to their heart’s content on Twitter, ridiculing the Prime Minister. BBC critic Matthew Sweet quipped, “Everything that happens in O’s Story, I imagine it’s a big business meeting.” And comedian Matt Owen added, “We just have to wait until Carrie Johnson gives birth tomorrow.” The Prime Minister’s wife had indeed given birth the day following a very difficult session in the House for her husband last December. Except this time, BoJo won’t be able to console himself with a new baby.
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