British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has offered a "wholehearted apology" to the House of Commons after being fined over breaking lockdown rules, as opposition parties push for an investigation into whether he misled MPs by repeatedly insisting that he did not breach Covid-19 regulations.
Mr Johnson was fined by the police last week for attending a birthday party thrown in his honour in June 2020 when people from different households were not allowed to meet indoors.
He told MPs: "Let me begin in all humility by saying that on April 12 I received a fixed penalty notice relating to an event in Downing Street on June 19 2020.
"I paid the fine immediately and I offered the British people a full apology, and I take this opportunity on the first available sitting day to repeat my wholehearted apology to the House."
Shouts of "resign" could be heard in the Commons.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has issued a 'wholehearted apology' in Westminster after being found to have breached Covid regulations, and added that it ‘did not occur to him’ that the gathering ‘could amount to a breach of the rules’ | Read more: https://t.co/Dv9BU7vBvv pic.twitter.com/Qlqg3uHEgV
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) April 19, 2022
Mr Johnson added: "As soon as I received the notice, I acknowledged the hurt and anger and I said that people had a right to expect better of their Prime Minister – and I repeat that, Mr Speaker, again in the House now.
"Let me also say, not by way of mitigation or excuse but purely because it explains my previous words in this House, that it did not occur to me then or subsequently that a gathering in the Cabinet Room just before a vital meeting on Covid strategy could amount to a breach of the rules.
"I repeat that was my mistake and I apologise for it unreservedly.
"I respect the outcome of the police investigation, which is still under way, and I can only say that I will respect their decision-making and always take the appropriate steps."
Mr Johnson said he has taken "significant steps" to change the way things work in No 10.
"It is precisely because I know that so many people are angry and disappointed that I feel an even greater sense of obligation to deliver on the priorities of the British people.
"And to respond in the best traditions of our country, to Putin's barbaric onslaught against Ukraine."
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Opponents have called for Mr Johnson to resign, accusing him of misleading parliament after he told the House of Commons last year that all rules were followed in Downing Street - the prime minister's official residence and workplace - during the pandemic.
Opposition politicians are in talks about how best to seek to censure Mr Johnson, either by pushing for a vote on whether he is in contempt of parliament, or to refer him to a parliamentary committee to investigate whether he deliberately misled MPs.
Keir Starmer was asked to withdraw the word "dishonest" by Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle as the Labour leader responded to Mr Johnson's statement.
Mr Starmer said: "What a joke. Even now, as the latest mealy-mouthed apology stumbles out of one side of his mouth, a new set of deflections and distortions pour from the other.
"But the damage is already done. The public have made up their mind. They don’t believe a word the Prime Minister says. They know what he is. As ever with this Prime Minister, those close to him find themselves ruined and the institutions he vows to protect damaged. Good ministers forced to walk away from public service, the Chancellor’s career up in flames. And the leader of the Scottish Conservatives rendered pathetic.
"For all those unfamiliar with this Prime Minister’s career, this isn’t some fixable glitch in the system. It’s the whole point. It’s what he does. It’s who he is. He knows he’s dishonest and incapable of changing. So, he drags everybody else down with him…"
'What a joke,' Labour leader Keir Starmer has said after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson issued a ‘mealy mouthed’ apology in the House of Commons after being fined for breaching Covid-19 regulations | Read more: https://t.co/Dv9BU7vBvv pic.twitter.com/HhKCCecdYk
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) April 19, 2022
As Conservative MPs started shouting, complaining about Mr Starmer’s use of the word dishonest, the Commons Speaker said: "I think the leader said dishonest. I don’t think that’s an appropriate word…
"We don’t want to talk about breaking rules, do we? I don’t think that’s a good time to discuss… I think if he just withdraws that and works around. I’m sure that with the knowledge that he has gained over many, many years, he can use appropriate words that is in keeping with good temperate language of this House."
Mr Starmer said: "I respect that ruling from the chair. The Prime Minister knows what he is and so he drags everybody else down with him."
MPs will hold a special debate on Thursday into whether he misled the House of Commons when, in December, he denied ever breaking the rules. He will be on an official visit to India by then.
Knowingly misleading parliament is a breach of government ministers' code of conduct, which states they should resign as a result - and opposition lawmakers are adamant he should go.
But asked directly if he deliberately misled parliament, Mr Johnson emphatically replied: "No."
Mr Johnson could yet receive further fines over various Downing Street parties held despite strict coronavirus lockdowns imposed by his own government over the past two years.
London's Metropolitan Police Service is investigating dozens of alleged lockdown breaches by Mr Johnson and his staff in the Downing Street complex.
It said last week officers have so far issued more than 50 fines.
The scandal, the latest in a stream of controversies to hit Mr Johnson since last summer, left his position hanging by a thread earlier this year and Conservative MPs in a dangerously rebellious mood.
But he has boosted his survival chances with what is seen as a firm response to the war in Ukraine, which diverted attention away from the furore when he was most vulnerable.
Several Conservative MPs who had publicly withdrawn their support for his leadership have reversed course and argued now is not the time for a change of Tory leader.
A growing cost-of-living crisis is also credited with distracting people from the scandal, while Mr Johnson has made several big policy announcements aimed at his pro-Brexit political base.
They include controversial plans to send migrants and asylum seekers who cross the Channel thousands of miles away to Rwanda.
However, commentators doubt he can maintain his party's support if repeatedly fined, his Tories fare poorly in local elections next month and further lurid details of parties emerge.
