"I apologize with all my heart but I remain in my place to carry out my duty with humility also to oppose Vladimir Putin and strengthen the support of the United Kingdom for Ukraine".
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said this about the Partygate scandal, or the controversy that engulfed him and his entourage for participating in aperitifs and other events during 2020, despite the restrictions imposed in the UK to stem the epidemic of Covid-19 .
The London leader intervened in the House of Commons for the first time after also receiving a Scotland Yard fine for violating coronavirus restrictions introduced by his own government.
The sanction imposed on the premier, in particular, concerns an event in June 2020 in which his birthday was celebrated at the Cabinet Room in Downing Street.
The mea culpa (not the first), however, did not convince or appease the opposition. Labor leader Keir Starmer has in fact rejected as a "joke" the "twisted apology" renewed by the conservative prime minister, clamoring for his resignation . Starmer called Johnson "a dishonest", criticized his attempt to link the affair to the Ukrainian crisis and repeated that the country has already judged him and that he should take a step back by renouncing the post "if he had a minimum of dignity" .
(Unioneonline / lf)
