BORIS Johnson has pledged to “set the record straight” over the Partygate scandal when he appears before MPs next week.
The PM has been accused of misleading Parliament after he was fined for attending his own 56th birthday bash in No 10.
He had previously told the Commons that he was unaware of any rule-breaking gatherings held in Downing St during lockdown.
Met police detectives issued Boris, his wife Carrie, and Chancellor Rishi Sunak with fixed penalty notices on Tuesday.
Today the PM said he will give an update to MPs on the row when Parliament returns from the Easter recess.
But at the launch of a new plan to tackle small boat crossings he brushed aside questions about his role in the scandal.
He said: “I’ll be saying more when I update Parliament next week. Of course I will set the record straight in any way that I can.”
It comes after Scotland Yard revealed it has now issued more than 50 fines for lockdown breaches in Downing St.
Opposition parties have said the PM should step aside now it has emerged he broke the lockdown rules he himself set.
In a furious attack today Sir Keir Starmer branded him a “lawbreaker and a liar” who has “no honesty and no integrity”.
A handful of Tory MPs have also urged Boris to go, though the vast majority have stood behind him including the entire cabinet.
Today top ally Simon Hart, the Secretary of State for Wales, insisted the PM had not deliberately misled the Commons.
And he argued the fact the birthday bash was reported at the time with no controversy proved No 10 thought it was within the rules.
“Not a single person at that time thought that that was anything remarkable”, he added.
Mr Hart said there was “a difference between misleading and deliberately misleading” Parliament.
The ministerial code says frontbenchers should swiftly correct all incorrect statements given in the chamber.
But stronger action to declare a politician in contempt of Parliament can only be taken if it is showed they knew they were lying.
QUIT CALLS
Tory MP Neil Hudson, who represents the Penrith and the Border constituency in Cumbria, said Boris should still quit.
He insisted today that the “situation is untenable” and that he “categorically will not defend the indefensible”.
But the 2019 intake Red Waller said a leadership election should only take place once the Ukraine crisis has eased.
Ex cabinet minister Karen Bradley said she should have resigned already if in the same position as the PM.
She said “law breaking in Downing Street is unforgivable” but also cited the Ukraine war as a key reason not to bin Boris yet.
“I will spend the next few days consulting my constituents and will decide on what action to take after listening to them”, she added.
Senior backbencher Tobias Ellwood, who chairs the Commons defence committee, said the PM’s future hangs on next month’s local elections.
He insisted there should be a no confidence vote in his leadership if the Tories perform poorly on May 5.
And he added: “I think the prime minister has made his intentions clear – he wants to stay – but this is bigger than the prime minister.”
The other Tories calling for his head are Nigel Mills, who represents Amber Valley in Derbyshire, and Craig Whittaker for Calder Valley in West Yorks.
