British Prime Minister Boris Johnson ahead of Wednesday’s weekly Question Time in Parliament.
(dpa) In a turbulent debate in the British Parliament, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ruled out immediate consequences from the “Partygate” scandal. He will await the report of an internal investigation, which will appear next week, Johnson said in parliament on Wednesday. Once again, the prime minister dodged specific questions about the course of lockdown parties at the seat of government. Opposition leader Keir Starmer will have to wait for the inquiry report, Johnson said.
After he had recently shown remorse, the prime minister, who is threatened with a vote of no confidence in his own ranks, now showed himself combative and sharply attacked his political opponent. If Starmer had his way, the country would still be in lockdown, Johnson claimed. Thanks to his policies, however, Great Britain came through the pandemic economically well.
Shortly before the debate, it was announced that a Tory MP was moving to the Labor Party. Christian Wakeford, who had voiced his distrust in Johnson, was greeted with loud cheers and slaps on the back from his new colleagues. There were boos from the government bank. Johnson pointed out that Wakeford only got into Parliament thanks to the brilliant Tory victory in 2019 under his leadership in the Bury South constituency. “We’ll win again at Bury South,” he said.