Johnson Reportedly Refuses to Admit Guilt After Being Fined For Violating COVID Rules

LONDON (Sputnik) - UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is steadfast that he did not violate any sanitary norms during the COVID-19 lockdown, despite having been fined for holding a party at his government residence, British newspaper Times reported on Monday, citing sources.

Last week, Johnson apologised for partying on Downing Street during the COVID-19 lockdown and said that he had paid the fine. When asked whether he would resign, the prime minister said that the best thing he could do now is to "focus on the job at hand." He argued it did not occur to him that he was breaking the law when he attended a "brief gathering" in the cabinet room at Downing Street in June 2020 to celebrate his birthday.

Johnson will "of course apologise again," delivering a speech at a meeting of the Conservative parliamentary party in Westminster on Tuesday, and says that he "understands the strength of feeling," the newspaper reported, citing a Downing Street source. At the same time, they added that "if you’re going from meeting to meeting and it’s something at 2pm in the afternoon, people wouldn’t particularly call that a party. You don’t tend to call that a party."

“If you go to something where you’re giving a speech, you’re not partying, so from his point of view, it’s his place of work, going to events in a work capacity, that’s the context in which these events happened. That is the way he will present it, and a lot of people understand this," the source said.

In his statement, the prime minister will possibly elaborate on the situation in Ukraine, highlighting his close contact with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as a new UK energy strategy, according to the report. Johnson is also set to raise the issue of fines for parties during lockdown levied on him, his spouse Carrie Johnson, and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak.

Last week, a YouGov poll showed that over a half of the British public think that Johnson should resign after it was revealed that parties were held in Downing Street during the coronavirus lockdown. The survey was conducted among 2,464 UK citizens over 18 years old on April 12, and disclosed that 57% of the public thinks that Johnson "should resign" as prime minister, 30% are in favor of him "remaining in his role", and 13% said they "did not know."

Criticism of Johnson turned caustic when it was revealed that two more parties had taken place on April 16 last year, on the eve of Prince Philip's funeral, when restrictions were still in force in the United Kingdom and national mourning had been declared. Due to the stringent restrictions, Queen Elizabeth II had to sit alone at a memorial service in the church. The Cabinet had to apologise to the royal family.