Starmer: PM statement on partygate a “new set of deflections and distortions”

Keir Starmer has branded Boris Johnson’s statement to parliament on the fines issued to the Prime Minister and Rishi Sunak after they were found to have breached lockdown rules during the pandemic as a “new set of deflections and distortions”.

Johnson appeared before MPs this afternoon for the first time since he and Sunak received fixed-penalty notices from the Metropolitan Police Service for attending an illegal social gathering at the height of the pandemic.

The Labour leader described the Prime Minister as a “man without shame” this afternoon and appealed to the Conservative backbenchers watching today to “put their conscience first” and remove Johnson from office.

“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 done. The public have made up their minds. They don’t believe a word the Prime Minister says. They know what he is,” Starmer told MPs.

“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 is dishonest and incapable of changing, so he drags everybody else down with him.”

Starmer warned that “the more people debase themselves parroting his absurd defences, the more the public will believe all politicians are the same, all as bad as each other”, adding: “That suits this Prime Minister just fine.”

On a comparison made by Tory minister Brandon Lewis today, that the fines received by Johnson and Sunak were similar to speeding tickets, the Labour leader argued that they are not, telling Johnson: “Don’t insult the public with this nonsense.”

He highlighted that the last government minister who had received a speeding ticket and subsequently lied about it had been prosecuted and served with a custodial sentence, adding: “I know because I prosecuted him.”

“They know the damage the Prime Minister is doing. They know things can’t go on as they are. They know it’s their responsibility to bring an end to this shameful chapter,” Starmer told Conservative MPs.

“Today, I urge them once again: don’t follow in the slipstream of an out-of-touch, out-of-control Prime Minister – put their conscience first, put their country first… and remove the Prime Minister from office.”

In his statement, Johnson claimed that “it did not occur to me then or subsequently that a gathering in the cabinet room just before a vital meeting on the Covid strategy could amount to a breach of the rules”.

He added: “I repeat, that was my mistake and I apologise for it unreservedly. I respect the outcome of the police investigation.”

Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle revealed in a statement to parliament earlier today that MPs will have the opportunity to vote on whether to launch an investigation into claims that Johnson lied to parliament over the ‘partygate’ row.

The Prime Minister said “the guidance was followed” when initially questioned on allegations of rule-breaking in Downing Street during the pandemic. The ministerial code outlines that ministers who are found to have knowingly misled parliament “will be expected to offer their resignation”.