Northern Ireland MPs add voices to Prime Minister Boris Johnson resignation calls following Sue Gray report

SDLP’s Colum Eastwood and Alliance’s Stephen Farry said the prime minister should step down, while DUP MP Jim Shannon, who broke down in tears during a previous House of Commons debate on Downing Street drinks parties, said “families have been left wanting”.

Mr Shannon, whose mother-in-law died alone in hospital due to strict Covid rules, said: “What I want is justice, what my family want is justice, what every other family who lost a loved one wants is justice – I’m afraid we haven’t seen that today.”

Asked if the prime minister should resign, Mr Shannon said: “It’s not for me to say should he resign, that’s up to the party.

“There seems to be a lot of unhappiness within his own backbenchers. If that’s the case, will there be enough unhappiness for the party to take some wide-ranging decisions in what needs to be done?”

Following the publication of the report by senior civil servant Sue Gray, Mr Johnson was grilled by MPs.

He promised to make major changes to the way he runs the Government as it emerged police are investigating alleged breaches of coronavirus rules at the Prime Minister’s birthday celebration and a gathering in his Downing Street flat.

As he battled to save his premiership, the Prime Minister apologised and insisted “I get it and I will fix it” as he faced fresh calls to resign after Sue Gray’s limited inquiry criticised “failures of leadership and judgment”.

But Ms Gray’s full investigation into claims of lockdown-busting parties in No 10 and Whitehall has been sidelined while the Metropolitan Police look into 12 separate alleged breaches of the rules in 2020 and 2021.

There was little support for Boris Johnson among Northern Ireland MPs he came in for heavy criticism in the House of Commons in the wake of Sue Gray’s report into lockdown parties.

SDLP MP Colum Eastwood renewed calls on Mr Johnson to resign, saying: “While thousands of people were forced to watch their loved ones die through the windows of care homes and hospitals, Boris Johnson was busy enjoying birthday cake and popping wine corks at Downing Street.

“Sue Gray clearly points to an enormous failure of leadership, a toxic culture at the heart of government and a careless disregard for what families have gone through over the last two years. That failure, that culture, that disregard for people falls squarely at the feet of Boris Johnson.

“Any objective reading of the update demonstrates that the rules were broken. The only question for Boris Johnson now is whether he will follow the habit of a lifetime and blame everyone else for his pattern of wrongdoing or whether he will take responsibility, admit what he has done and resign.”

Alliance MP Stephen Farry said Boris Johnson’s response was “pathetic”. He commented: “Leadership failings start at the very top. Apologies are too little, and too late. He simply doesn’t get it. PM needs to resign.”

DUP MP Jim Shannon said the government’s credibility was “severely damaged” but did not go as far as calling for the PM to step down.

He said: “This report may be little more than an executive summary but it is more than enough to prove that the highest office in the land failed to observe the standards it demanded of others at the height of the pandemic.

“We must ultimately await the outcome of the police investigation and a fuller presentation of the facts, however there can be little doubt that the Government’s credibility is severely damaged. That is bad for democracy and for trust in elected politicians.

“Of course, Downing Street has not been alone in undermining the public health message. These revelations extend far beyond the gardens of No. 10. In Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein ministers took to the streets of West Belfast for the funeral of an IRA man Bobby Storey in flagrant breach of the very Covid regulations that they were responsible for writing.

“The DUP supports the call for a comprehensive public inquiry into the handling of the Covid-19 response right across our United Kingdom. This is needed to ensure mistakes are not repeated in future crises. Actions by government ministers and senior officials should not be out of reach of such an investigation. Indeed, no decision, policy or position should be off limits.

“The pandemic has presented a once in a lifetime threat to public health but it has also raised serious questions about the integrity of those in senior positions of responsibility. Those questions must be addressed moving forward.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer demanded Mr Johnson publish a full Gray inquiry in the future, as he said the British people believe he should “do the decent thing and resign”, but won’t because he is “a man without shame”.

Former prime minister Theresa May questioned whether Mr Johnson either did not “read the rules”, understand them, or “didn’t think the rules applied to No 10”.

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