Published on: 19/01/2022 – 02:33 British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday dismissed accusations that he had been tipped off over the organization of an unregulated Covid party in Downing Street in May 2020. His former adviser Dominic Cummings accused him of lying on Twitter. New explosive episode of the “partygate” saga which plunges Boris Johnson into the worst crisis since he came to power in the summer of 2019. The British Prime Minister counter-attacked and “categorically” refuted, on Tuesday January 18, having been warned of the organization of a party contrary to the restrictions put in place against the Covid-19 in Downing Street on May 20, 2020, as accused by his former adviser Dominic Cummings. Boris Johnson presented an apology last week to the Parliament after revelations in the press about his presence at this party in the garden of his official residence in full confinement, claiming to have then thought that it was a work meeting. “I can tell you categorically that no one told me that it was something that contravened the anti-Covid rules”, he said on Tuesday, questioned on television on the sidelines of the visit to a London hospital. Justifications refuted by Dominic Cummings. The influential mastermind of the victorious campaign for Brexit, which had been introduced by Boris Johnson at the heart of power, accused the latter on social networks of having lied.
Cummings’ charges
He claimed to have himself warned Boris Johnson before the holding of this event, for which his private secretary had sent a hundred invitations. “The Prime Minister was warned about these invitations, he knew it was a pot, he lied to Parliament”, wrote on his Twitter account the one who has regularly launched attacks against his former leader since his departure at the end of 2020. in a context of infighting. Dominic Cummings also claimed that Boris Johnson dismissed his concerns when he asked him to “take over this lunatic asylum”, in a long story published on his blog. He said he was ready to “swear under oath”. Media reports that Dominic Cummings will be heard as part of the internal investigation into the various Downing Street parties led by Sue Gray, a senior civil servant known for her integrity. Before his shattering departure from Downing Street, Dominic Cummings himself had been singled out for having contravened the anti-Covid rules in the spring of 2020 by traveling with his family in full confinement, which was prohibited.
Measures to save his job
Already weakened by a proliferation of calls for resignation, even in the Conservative ranks, and disastrous polls, Boris Johnson is playing big. Questioned on this subject on several occasions, he systematically eluded, referring to the conclusions expected soon from the internal investigation. But deliberately misleading Parliament can cost him his job. “The ministerial code is clear about this,” replied his finance minister Rishi Sunak, seen as a potential candidate for his succession. However, he said “of course” he believed the Prime Minister, “fully” supporting his appeal for “patience” pending the results of the internal investigation. For the Labor Party, the main opposition party, he is not in on the other hand, it is not advisable to wait. His number two, Angela Rayner, called on the Prime Minister to “tell the truth” and “resign” rather than “hide the latest from internal investigations”. According to British media, Boris Johnson is planning a series of populist measures dubbed “Operation Bite Bone” to save his post and reclaim his base. Among them, the freezing of funding for the BBC by the license fee announced on Monday, but also the banning of alcohol in the offices of Downing Street and the dismissal of several of its collaborators, according to the Sunday Times. his constituents, the Prime Minister could also announce on Wednesday the lifting of restrictions linked to Covid, on January 26, in England. With AFP
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