UK publishes report on Downing Street lockdown parties, blaming "failures of leadership"

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (C) is seen on a screen as he attends the weekly session of Prime Minister's Questions in London, Britain, Jan. 12, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Ying)

Over the past weeks, revelations of a string of rules-busting parties at Downing Street and Whitehall have enraged the British public, who obediently followed the government-imposed social restrictions that barred them from meeting friends and families for many months in 2020 and 2021.

LONDON, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- The British government on Monday published the long-awaited report into parties held at Downing Street that allegedly breached the country's COVID-19 rules, after it reached Prime Minister Boris Johnson's desk earlier in the day.

"There were failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No. 10 and the Cabinet Office at different times. Some of the events should not have been allowed to take place. Other events should not have been allowed to develop as they did," it said. "The excessive consumption of alcohol is not appropriate in a professional workplace at any time."

The report, drafted by the senior civil servant Sue Gray, was not published in full as the London Metropolitan Police on Friday asked the Cabinet Office to make "minimal reference" to the events concerned in order to avoid any prejudice to their own investigation.

After the release of the report, Johnson said he accepted the findings when delivering a speech at the House of Commons, the lower house of the British parliament.

"I'm sorry for the things we simply didn't get right and also sorry for the way this matter has been handled. It's no use saying this or that was within the rules, it's no use saying people were working hard," Johnson told the Members of the Parliament (MPs).

"But it isn't enough to say sorry. This is a moment when we must look at ourselves in the mirror and we must learn," he added. "And while the Metropolitan Police must yet complete their investigation, I of course accept Sue Gray's general findings in full."

Over the past weeks, revelations of a string of rules-busting parties at Downing Street and Whitehall have enraged the British public, who obediently followed the government-imposed social restrictions that barred them from meeting friends and families for many months in 2020 and 2021.

These illicit gatherings include a garden party on May 20, 2020, during the country's first COVID-19 lockdown, which Johnson said he mistook as a work event, as well as a birthday party given to him on June 19, 2020.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street for Prime Minister's Questions in London, Britain, Jan. 12, 2022. (Photo by Tim Ireland/Xinhua)

"Against the backdrop of the pandemic, when the government was asking citizens to accept far-reaching restrictions on their lives, some of the behavior surrounding these gatherings is difficult to justify," the report said.

"At least some of the gatherings in question represent a serious failure to observe not just the high standards expected of those working at the heart of government but also of the standards expected of the entire British population at the time," it said.

Even though Gray said in the report that she is "extremely limited" in what she can say about those events and it is not possible at present to provide a meaningful report, Johnson's political opponents made good use of the latest development to pressure Johnson to resign.

A man wearing a facemask walks across Westminster Bridge in London, Britain, Jan. 19, 2022. (Photo by Stephen Chung/Xinhua)

Keir Starmer, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, said the report offered "the most damning conclusion possible" and called Johnson "a man without shame" for not resigning over these findings.

Starmer asked the Tory MPs to "end this farce" by calling for a no-confidence vote in the prime minister.

Under the Conservative Party's rules, a leadership contest will be triggered if 15 percent of MPs, now translating into 54, write letters of no-confidence to the chair of the party's 1992 Committee.

The 1922 Committee, also known as "the 22", is a committee of all backbench Conservative MPs that meets weekly when the Commons is sitting. It has considerable influence within the Parliamentary Party.

"Does the Prime Minister understand, does he care about the enormous hurt his actions have caused to bereaved families across our country?" asked Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats.

"Will he finally accept that the only decent thing he can do now is resign?" he added.

Defiantly fending off the fresh round of calls for resignation, Johnson said everyone should wait for the outcome of police investigation. He also refused to commit to the release of the "full and unredacted" Sue Gray report.

People walk through Covent Garden in London, Britain, Jan. 19, 2022. (Photo by Stephen Chung/Xinhua)