(UTV | ENGLAND) – Boris Johnson is focused on “saving his own skin” rather than key issues, after findings into No 10 lockdown parties were published, Sir Keir Starmer says.
The update delivered by Sue Gray blamed a “failure of leadership” for rule breaking in Downing Street.
Mr Johnson met Tory MPs on Monday to reassure them about his premiership and to promise a shake-up in No 10.
But the Labour leader accused the PM of becoming distracted from problems like the cost of living crisis.
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab defended his boss, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he had “expressed contrition for his overall responsibility”, and had a plan to fix the running of No 10.
But fellow Tory MP Andrew Mitchell told the same programme the PM was running government like a “medieval court”, and he was doing “great damage” to his party.
Metropolitan Police officers are looking into 12 events for alleged breaches of lockdown rules, including three the PM reportedly attended and one in his flat.
In her partial report, released on Monday, senior civil servant Ms Gray said she had been “extremely limited” by the police investigation in how much she could say, so a “meaningful” report could not be released yet.
She will publish an updated report on lockdown parties in No 10 once police finish their inquiries, Downing Street has said.
A number of Conservative MPs had said they are waiting for Ms Gray’s full report to decide whether to try to remove the PM from office.
But Leader of the House Jacob Rees-Mogg claimed the “mood was positive” in the party after Mr Johnson addressed a meeting of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbench MPs on Monday evening.