BORIS Johnson will face a make-or-break PMQs showdown with MPs today as he finally breaks cover amid the No 10 party row.

The PM will be forced out of hiding at midday to answer question from Labour about whether he attended the lockdown-busting bash.

He is under huge pressure from Tory ministers and MPs to admit details of the May 2020 booze up and apologise.

Some within the party have called on him to resign if it turns out he misled Parliament over his knowledge of the event.

Sir Keir Starmer will grill the PM across the despatch box provided he exits self-isolation today.

The Labour leader, who caught Covid last week, returned a negative test yesterday and needs another today to end quarantine.

If he can't attend his deputy Angela Rayner will lead the inquisition.

This morning she said if it turns out Boris lied to Parliament and the public about the party then his position will be "untenable".

Most read in News

She said: "It is very simple for me. I've been asking the PM for the last couple of days, you just have to say, were you at this party or not on May 20?

"He can clear this up very quickly and he has refused to do so, so far.

"He has really undermined the office of PM by letting this carry on and continue because he refuses to tell the British public what they deserve to hear.

"And that's whether or not he broke the lockdown rules and whether he was at this party or not."

? Read our UK politics live blog for the latest news and updates

The escalating row over the bash has erupted into the biggest crisis of the PM's premiership.

This morning No 10 took the rare step of failing to send a minister out onto the morning airwavesto answer questions.

Senior Tories and donors are now questioning BoJo’s future after he did not deny attending the rule-breaking “bring your own booze” bash.

Mr Johnson went to ground and dodged a heated and at times tearful Commons showdown yesterday about the party.

Instead he hid behind junior minister Michael Ellis, who had to go out and face the wrath of MPs on his behalf.

The Paymaster General insisted BoJo “is going nowhere” and “retains the confidence of the people of this country”.

Drawing the short straw to front the anger of MPs, he insisted he had “confidence” in Mr Johnson’s “integrity and honour”.

But Health Minister Ed Argar told the BBC: “I can entirely understand why people who’ve lost loved ones, or people who’ve just had their lives hugely disrupted by these restrictions, are angry and upset by these allegations.”

More than a dozen senior Tories broke cover to question the PM’s version of events.

Before Christmas Mr Johnson told MPs there had been no parties in No10 and he was “furious” about claims of rule breaking by staff.

A picture emerged of him having cheese and wine alongside his wife and staff in his Downing Street garden during the first Covid lockdown raising questions over No 10’s insistence it was a “work meeting”.

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said: “If the PM has misled Parliament he must resign.”

Ex-Defence Minister Johnny Mercer added: “I’m sorry. It’s humiliating, and does not reflect the majority of my colleagues who at least try and lead by example.”

It came after a bombshell leaked email from his top official confirmed the May 20, 2020 “bring your own booze” garden bash.

Downing Street did not deny the PM and wife Carrie attended the party, that eyewitnesses claim saw 40 civil servants and aides “enjoy the sunshine” while mixing was banned for the rest of the country.

But the PM stood by embattled mandarin Martin Reynolds, who defied warnings to invite more than 100 staff to the booze-up, insisting he “remained in post” last night.

Mr Johnson’s fate now lies in the hands of veteran Whitehall enforcer Sue Gray, who is probing multiple lockdown breaches in Downing Street.

The Government was paralysed with fear last night that the famed tough-nut will find Mr Johnson to have personally broken the law.

No10 is refusing to comment until her investigation is complete.

Aides are worried a confession of wrongdoing from the PM could lead to a formal police investigation and potential resignation.

The Metropolitan Police are looking at the claims following pressure from opposition parties.

Source: Read Full Article