York’s Conservative MP has told Boris Johnson: “You should resign as PM.”
Julian Sturdy had waited to read the Sue Gray report into the Partygate scandal before casting judgment over his Prime Minister.
That report “clearly shows that the Prime Minister has presided over a widespread culture of disregard for coronavirus regulations,” Mr Sturdy said this evening (Wednesday).
“Furthermore, questions are now being raised about whether the Prime Minister misled Parliament when asked about these events,” the MP for York Outer went on.
He said he could no longer give the Prime Minister the benefit of the doubt “and feel it is now in the public interest for him to resign”.
Julian Sturdy’s statement in full
The Sue Gray report clearly shows that the Prime Minister has presided over a widespread culture of disregard for coronavirus regulations. Furthermore, questions are now being raised about whether the Prime Minister misled Parliament when asked about these events.
Talking to constituents, it is clear discussions about parties in Downing Street remain a damaging distraction at a time when our country faces massive challenges with war returning to Europe, a global cost of living crisis, and our recovery from the pandemic being more important than ever.
This is clearly a time when we cannot have any doubt about the honesty, integrity, and personal character of the Prime Minister.
While I thought it important to wait for the conclusion of the Metropolitan Police investigation and the publication of the Sue Gray report, I am now unable to give the Prime Minister the benefit of the doubt and feel it is now in the public interest for him to resign.
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Sue Gray, a senior civil servant, released her long awaited report into parties in Downing Street and Whitehall earlier today.
It revealed details of gatherings at which officials drank so much they were sick, sang karaoke, became involved in altercations and abused security and cleaning staff at a time when millions of people across the country were unable to see friends and family.
Ms Gray said “senior leadership” within Number 10 should “bear responsibility” for the culture which led to parties being held during 2020 and 2021.
Mr Johnson has said he “overwhelmingly” believes he should remain in office despite public anger at the “bitter and painful” conclusions of the inquiry into raucous parties in No 10 during lockdown restrictions.
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He said he takes “full responsibility” for the scandal but sought to play down his personal involvement in the gatherings detailed in the report by the senior official.
“I overwhelmingly feel it is my job to get on and deliver,” he told a Downing Street press conference.
“No matter how bitter and painful that the conclusions of this may be – and they are – and no matter how humbling they are, I have got to keep moving forward and the Government has got to keep moving. And we are.”
A snap poll from YouGov after the report was published said three in five Britons want Mr Johnson to quit.