JAKARTA - Claims by former senior adviser Boris Johnson that the British Prime Minister lied to parliament about not knowing about the Downing Street lockdown party are nonsense, his deputy criticized on Tuesday.
Asked if the prime minister's term was over, if it could be proven he had lied to parliament, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said: "Listen, saying he lied is bullshit."
"He made it clear to the House of Commons, asking questions about this, that he thought it was a work event," Raab told Times Radio, citing Reuters January 18.
PM Johnson last week apologized to parliament for attending a "bring your own drink" meeting in 10 Downing Street park, the UK PM's official residence and office on May 20, 2020, but said he thought it was a work event.
Dominic Cummings, an architect of Britain's exit from the European Union and a former senior adviser to PM Johnson who left the government under harsh terms in November 2020, said on Twitter the prime minister had agreed the binge drinking should continue.
"Not just me, but other eyewitnesses who discussed this at the time of swearing under oath, this is what happened," Cummings said on his blog,
Asked if Johnson should resign if he lied, Raab said he would not speculate on hypotheticals.
PM Johnson's apology came after ITV News published an email invitation from PM Johnson's Chief Secretary, Martin Reynolds to the May 20, 2020 event, asking attendees to "bring your own booze".
Cummings said after Reynolds was told to cancel the invitation by at least two people, Reynolds checked with PM Johnson whether it should go ahead.
"The PM approved it," Cummings wrote on his blog.
Senior civil servant Sue Gray is investigating about a dozen allegations of rule-breaking by PM Johnson, his team and officials at the official 10 Downing Street residence. Meanwhile, senior ministers said people needed to wait for the conclusion of the investigation.
However, the scandal has sent PM Johnson's personal ratings plummeting, support for his Conservative Party slumped in opinion polls. In addition, a growing number of Conservative MPs are saying he must now resign.
"I will call for action against anyone found to have violated the rules," Junior Health Secretary Maria Caulfield wrote on her website.
"It is clear that there is a culture within Number 10 (Downing Street) where even if the rules are not technically broken, the spirit of the rules persists, and this is totally unacceptable."
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