Renewed Calls for UK's Johnson to Resign After Reports of More Parties in Downing Street

LONDON (Sputnik) – UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing renewed calls on Friday to step down from his role following fresh reports that the Downing Street staff held parties on April 16, on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral and when England was still under strict COVID-19 rules banning people from different households to gather indoor.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Johnson’s advisers and civil servants gathered after work for two separate staff leaving events on April 16 2021, as the country was in a period of mourning after the death of Queen Elizabeth II’s husband.

On Wednesday, the prime minister had apologized for participating in another party that was held in the gardens of his official residence on May 20, 2020, but did not explicitly admit any wrongdoing as he claimed that he had assumed the gathering was a work event.

Labour leader Keir Starmer, who then urged Johnson to step down, again called on him to resign following the Daily Telegraph’s fresh revelations and a statement from Downing Street saying that the prime minister’s office had apologized to Buckingham Palace for the parties held during the national mourning.

"This shows just how seriously Boris Johnson has degraded the office of Prime Minister. The Conservatives have let Britain down. An apology isn’t the only thing the Prime Minister should be offering the palace today. Boris Johnson should resign," the Opposition leader wrote on Twitter.

Although government ministers have stood behind their leader so far, half a dozen Conservative lawmakers, including the leader of the Scottish Conservative Party Douglas Ross have called for his resignation.