British prime minister Boris Johnson rejected calls to resign as he waited for an official report into the partygate row.
Mr Johnson insisted he was “getting on with the job”, although he acknowledged there were people who “want me out of the way” for a variety of reasons.
Mr Johnson appeared at Prime Minister’s Questions with his future in the balance as Westminster awaits the release of senior official Sue Gray’s report into alleged lockdown-busting parties in No 10 and Whitehall.
The report is expected to be handed to No 10 on Wednesday, although it had not been submitted by the time Mr Johnson stood up to face MPs.
But an indication of how damaging the report could be for the British government came when Scotland Yard chief Dame Cressida Dick announced a police inquiry was being carried out, based in part on evidence obtained by the Gray investigation.
UK Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer suggested Mr Johnson had misled the British parliament about Downing Street parties, something which would normally require a minister to resign.
Asked if he would now quit, the prime minister said: “No.”
Mr Starmer said: “We now have the shameful spectacle of a prime minister of the United Kingdom being subject to a police investigation, unable to lead the country, incapable of doing the right thing and every day his cabinet fail to speak out they become more and more complicit.”
He challenged Mr Johnson to publish the full Gray investigation report as he receives it – the prime minister said he would “do exactly what I said”, although there has been speculation the version published could be redacted or edited.
Mr Johnson is also committed to giving a Commons statement in response to the Gray report.
Mr Starmer said: “Whatever he says in his statement later today or tomorrow won’t change the facts. Isn’t this a prime minister and a government that have shown nothing but contempt for the decency, honesty and respect that define this country?”
Mr Johnson replied: “Of course he wants me out of the way – he does, and of course I don’t deny, for all sorts of reasons, many people may want me out of the way.”
But he said Mr Starmer wanted him out because “he knows that this government can be trusted to deliver”.
He added: “We’re – and in particular I – am getting on with the job.”
