The government faces the challenge of moving away from a row over the prime minister’s breach of Covid rules, a business minister has said.
Paul Scully told the BBC Boris Johnson has apologized and will now “rebuild trust with people who are angry”.
The Prime Minister is working to garner the support of his own MPs ahead of a vote on whether to have a committee investigate him for misleading Parliament.
The Labor-backed vote takes place on Thursday.
Under government rules, ministers who knowingly mislead Parliament – which the Prime Minister denies – are expected to resign.
If MPs vote in favor of an inquiry, the Privileges Committee – made up of seven MPs – could recommend sanctions, including an apology, a suspension or even expulsion from the House of Commons.
However, the move is unlikely to succeed as the majority of Conservative MPs back the Prime Minister and will likely be instructed to vote against the Labor motion.
Mr Scully said the government would await the wording of the motion before deciding on the vote.
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BBC Breakfast Labor deputy leader Angela Rayner reiterated calls for Mr Johnson to resign.
She said Mr Johnson is undermining “our democratic processes” and “debases the office” of prime minister.
Mr Johnson spoke to MPs on Tuesday for the first time since being fined by the Met Police for breaching Covid laws and repeatedly apologized for his “mistake”.
He said he didn’t realize he had broken the rules by attending a Downing Street birthday party, but he accepted the police’s decisions.
Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer accused the Prime Minister of offering “absurd” excuses; while SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said: “If he has any decency and dignity, not only would he apologise, he would resign.”
And Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said it was “deeply damaging” for the UK “to be led by a man the public no longer trusts and trusts”.
In the House of Commons, the majority of Conservative MPs backed the PM, but a former senior minister – Mark Harper – urged Mr Johnson to stop, saying his actions were “unjustifiable”.
And another MP, Duncan Baker, told Radio Norfolk: “When there are more firm penalties, MPs like me have a lot to think about.”
After spending over an hour and a half answering questions in the House of Commons, Mr Johnson turned to his own MPs to bolster support.
The BBC was told Mr Johnson had asked his party whether they would rather have him or Labor in power, adding: “We will continue with our one nation Conservative agenda.”
A Downing Street source has confirmed that Mr Johnson told Conservative MPs the Government’s plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda had been “misinterpreted” by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said politics is “the opposite of God’s nature” during his Easter sermon over the weekend.
Asked if there was a party at Downing Street on December 18, 2020, Boris Johnson told the Commons December 1, 2021 that “all instructions in #10 have been fully followed”.
He further told MPs after releasing a video showing No10 staff joking about the December 18 event December 8, 2021 he had been “repeatedly assured” that “there was no party and that no Covid rules were being broken”.
Later that day, he told the Commons he was “sure that whatever happened, the instructions were followed and the rules were followed at all times”.
on January 12, 2022he apologized for attending a garden party at Downing Street on May 20, 2020, but said he “implicitly believed” it was a work event.
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