Police investigation prevents Johnson from explaining, Raab says

by Guy Faulconbridge

LONDON (Reuters) – The number two in the British government, Dominic Raab, on Tuesday defended Boris Johnson’s silence on questions about his participation in the Downing Street celebrations in full confinement, according to him the Prime Minister did not want to prejudice the investigations carried out by the police.

This examines more than 500 documents and 300 photographs as part of its investigation into twelve evenings which were held in the residence and office of the head of government during strict periods of confinement introduced in 2020 and 2021 in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Boris Johnson issued a public apology but only admitted attending one of the parties, saying he believed it was a business meeting. However, he declined to say whether he was present at other gatherings, including one in his own apartment.

The Labor opposition believes for its part that the police investigation in no way prevents Boris Johnson from answering specific questions, in particular before Parliament.

“If he starts answering specific questions that have been directed to the police, he will be rightly accused of prejudicing, preventing or interfering with the investigation,” Dominic Raab explained on Sky. News.

An internal investigation report made public on Monday pointed to a serious lack of leadership and serious errors of judgment within Boris Johnson’s cabinet but Sue Gray, the senior civil servant who oversaw the investigations, warned that she could not present an exhaustive report due to the police investigation, which could last for weeks.

The “partygate” scandal weighs on the popularity rating of Boris Johnson and the Conservative Party. The latest polls show that a large majority of Britons want the Prime Minister to leave (69% in a Savanta ComRes survey, 63% in a YouGov poll).

Discontent is rumbling within the Conservative Party itself, but so far the threshold necessary to trigger an internal vote of no confidence – 54 elected Tories out of 359 – has still not been crossed.

(French version Jean-Stéphane Brosse, edited by Blandine Hénault)