INVESTIGATION
Conservative Member of Parliament Tim Loughton joined the handful of lawmakers in Johnson’s party publicly calling for him to quit.
“I have regretfully come to the conclusion that Boris Johnson’s position is now untenable, that his resignation is the only way to bring this whole unfortunate episode to an end,” he wrote on Twitter on Saturday night.
The investigation into the matter by senior civil servant Sue Gray would produce a factual account of events set against a summary of rules at the time, but would not advise on disciplinary actions, Dowden told the BBC. Her report would be published in full, he later told Times Radio.
Facing the most serious threat to his leadership since he came to power in 2019, the Sunday Times reported Johnson would try to draw a line under the issue with a mass clear out of staff and a slew of populist policies.
The Sunday Express reported that Johnson would remove all existing coronavirus restrictions at an upcoming review, including mandatory face masks and an instruction to work from home where possible. The report cited a government source.
Asked about that, Dowden said: “I’m very hopeful and optimistic but clearly, we will await the data at the point of the decision before making that final decision.”
New cases of COVID-19 have begun falling after a sharp spike caused by the highly-transmissible but milder Omicron variant. Britain reported nearly 82,000 new cases on Saturday, less than half the peak seen in early January.
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