Plaid Cymru MP for Arfon, Hywel Williams, has said it’s time for Welsh Conservative MPs to break their silence and force Prime Minister Boris Johnson from office.

 

Boris Johnson appeared at Prime Ministers Questions today and admitted he had been at the Downing Street party on 20 May 2020 for about 25 minutes, so that he could “thank groups of staff” for their hard work.

He told MPs the event in the Downing Street Garden was “technically within the rules” but he should have realised how it would look to the public.

He said: “I believed implicitly that this was a work event.”

But he added: “With hindsight I should have sent everyone back inside.

“I should have found some other way to thank them, and I should have recognised that – even if it could have been said technically to fall within the guidance – there would be millions and millions of people who simply would not see it that way.”

Later, a Downing Street spokesman said the prime minister did not see the email inviting staff to drinks on 20 May 2020.

Mr Johnson urged MPs to wait for the outcome of an inquiry by senior civil servant Sue Gray into alleged Covid law-breaking in Downing Street, which he said “will report as soon as possible”.

The government is facing mounting pressure over several events that are alleged to have been held during lockdowns in 2020.

If 54 Conservative MPs send letters to the 1922 committee – the influential backbench group which runs Tory leadership contests – it will trigger a challenge.

Speaking after Prime Minister’s Questions today (12 January 2022), Hywel Williams MP said: “Today’s PMQs showed that Boris Johnson is a Prime Minister with no authority, no integrity, no shame.

“The public know that the Prime Minister partied while they were in lockdown. But all we heard today was excuse after excuse, lie after lie.

“Johnson has had ample opportunity to show humility and do the right thing by resigning.

“Now it’s time for his backbenchers, including Welsh Conservative MPs who sat in silence or asked friendly questions in the Chamber today, to show a backbone and get rid of this liar from No 10.”