LONDON, June 18 (Reuters) – Britain’s senior minister, Michael Gove, on Sunday described a video showing a party at the headquarters of the ruling Conservative Party during a 2020 lockdown as “terrible” as meetings that break COVID rules continue to loom over the government.
The video was published by the Mirror newspaper just days after a parliamentary committee ruled that former Prime Minister Boris Johnson had deliberately misled lawmakers about lockdown parties breaking the rules at his office.
The 45-second clip shows revelers partying in December 2020 when the British public in London was banned from socializing indoors to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
People can be seen dancing and drinking in the video. Two of those who attended the meeting, which had previously been investigated by police when a still photo surfaced, received honors from Johnson at their resignation list earlier this month.
“It’s terrible,” Gove, the housing minister, told Sky News. “I think it’s completely out of line. I just really want to apologize to everyone.”
The issue of breaking the rules during the COVID lockdowns helped oust Johnson, who left office last year, and it still looms over Conservatives and current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Johnson resigned as a member of parliament on June 9, days before the privileges committee, the main disciplinary body for lawmakers, delivered its damning verdict on him, reopening divisions in the party and reigniting public anger.
Polls suggest the Conservatives, in power since 2010, lag the opposition Labor Party by about 20% percentage points. The next elections should be held at the end of 2024.
VOTE FOR JOHNSON
Lawmakers will vote Monday on whether to endorse the privileges committee’s report. Though largely symbolic now that Johnson has resigned as lawmaker, supporters of his have said those who backed his findings could face backlash from Conservative members and even face deselection as parliamentary candidates.
Gove said he would abstain, calling parts of the report “excellent” but disagreed with its conclusion that Johnson should have been suspended from parliament for 90 days if he had remained a lawmaker. He said that he did not know what Sunak himself would do.
Johnson’s ongoing saga and COVID ‘partygate’ headlines will do little for Sunak’s attempts to focus on boosting Britain’s flagging economy, with owners facing big increases in mortgage payments as the Bank of England raises interest rates in a bid to curb stubbornly high inflation.
Asked if the government would step in to help borrowers, he said he had no immediate plans to step in but was looking into the matter.
“The worst thing to do would be to spend money to provide short-term relief, which would mean our general finances would be in a weaker position, and interest rates would be higher for longer, and inflation would be high for longer.” time”. gove said.
Reporting by Michael Holden; edited by Mark Heinrich and Sharon Singleton
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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