British Prime Minister Boris Johnson confronted a name to resign on Monday after claims he dismissed the prospect of 1000’s dying from Covid-19, as a row over authorities “sleaze” escalated.
In a front-page headline, the Daily Mail newspaper reported Johnson had said he would rather see “bodies pile high in their thousands” than impose a 3rd coronavirus lockdown.
Ultimately, Johnson did order a brand new spherical of restrictions in January.
But he’s now locked in a dangerous confrontation along with his former prime aide Dominic Cummings over his coronavirus insurance policies final 12 months and monetary dealings.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace stated the Daily Mail report, primarily based on unnamed sources, was “not true” and had been “categorically denied by practically everyone”.
“None of that is critical. The prime minister has been totally targeted on delivering, alongside Cabinet colleagues, the response to Covid,” he told Sky News.
The main opposition Labour party wants an urgent inquiry into Cummings’ claims made in an explosive blog post.
“We cannot go on like this day after day with the drip, drip, drip of allegations,” stated Labour chief Keir Starmer.
“We have to unravel it as a result of I feel for lots of people, that is starting to really feel very strongly like one rule for them and one other rule for everyone else.”
‘Utterly abhorrent’
But the Scottish National Party (SNP)’s leader in the UK parliament, Ian Blackford, went further, demanding Johnson step down if his comments are confirmed.
“These comments are utterly abhorrent. If they are true, @BorisJohnson has a duty to resign,” he tweeted.
“The Prime Minister must now come to Parliament to give a statement, and face questioning on these shocking claims and the growing Tory sleaze scandal engulfing Westminster.”
Johnson has confronted sharp criticism over his dealing with of the coronavirus pandemic. In Britain, one of many international locations worst hit on the earth by the illness, greater than 127,000 individuals have died from Covid.
But more and more the prime minister is dealing with questions over his wider judgement and integrity, following weeks of tales about alleged inappropriate lobbying and particular favours.
Cummings, the strategist behind the 2016 marketing campaign for Britain to go away the European Union, stop Downing Street in December below a cloud of acrimony.
The former senior adviser wrote on his private weblog on Friday that Johnson had sought to make use of probably unlawful donations to renovate his publicly funded Downing Street lodging.
Cummings additionally wrote that Johnson had raised the prospect of blocking an inner inquiry into leaks as a result of they may implicate a detailed good friend of his fiancee Carrie Symonds.
Simon Case, Britain’s most senior civil servant, is to be questioned by lawmakers afterward Monday over the allegations in opposition to Johnson, his ministers and officers, which Downing Street have dismissed as false.
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