Downing Street parties were bad for democracy, admits Sajid Javid
Sajid Javid has admitted parties took place in Downing Street during lockdown and said they had been "damaging" to Britain's democracy.
The Health Secretary appeared to go further than Boris Johnson, who has sought to avoid referring to the events themselves while apologising for the "hurt" they had caused.
On Thursday, Mr Javid urged the public to wait for the findings of an official inquiry by Sue Gray, a senior civil servant, but condemned the parties as "completely wrong".
"We do now know there were some parties. We know that because some of the people that were involved and broke the rules have come forward to say so," he said.
"Of course things like this damage our democracy. From what we already know from the people who have come forward and apologised for the parties that took place, for example the one on the eve of Prince Philip's funeral, that was completely wrong.
“It was wrong in every single way. The way we now get through this is to get the facts out, get them on the table so we can all reach a judgment ourselves."
Mr Javid's position suggests a hardening of government messaging on the issue, with ministers now avoiding answering questions about whether Mr Johnson should resign.
On Sunday Oliver Dowden, the Conservative chairman, said the Prime Minister would not leave office, but by Tuesday Dominic Raab had told journalists that lying to Parliament was "normally" a resigning matter.
The question of whether Mr Johnson lied to the Commons about knowing about the parties in Downing Street is one his critics hope will be resolved by Ms Gray's inquiry.
Steve Baker, a prominent Tory backbencher, told the BBC's Political Thinking podcast that Mr Johnson "must go" if it is found he broke the law or lied to Parliament, but said "we are all waiting" for the Gray inquiry's findings.
"We didn't make Boris Johnson prime minister for his meticulous grasp of tedious rules, but this is appalling and the public are rightly furious," he said. "At the moment I'm afraid it does look like checkmate – but whether he can save himself, we'll see."
Mr Javid also said David Davis's call for Mr Johnson to resign had been "damaging" to the Prime Minister.
Mr Davis urged Mr Johnson to stand aside on Wednesday, telling him: "In the name of God, go.". He told The Telegraph's Chopper's Politics podcast that he thought the chance of Mr Johnosn being in Downing Street by Christmas stood at 30 per cent.
But the prospect of Mr Johnson being removed from office this week appeared to fade on Thursday, with between three and seven letters of no confidence withdrawn from the 1922 Committee by Conservative MPs apprehensive about booting him out.
Senior sources in the government whips' office told The Telegraph they knew of three no confidence letters in Mr Johnson that had been submitted to Sir Graham Brady, the 1922 committee chairman, and then withdrawn.
A former minister and senior Tory MP who is not seen as an ally of the Prime Minister said he knew of seven letters being withdrawn. Conservative MPs are entitled to submit letters and then withdraw them under the rules that govern the 1922 committee.
The turning point appears to have been the decision of the former Tory MP Christian Wakeford to defect to Labour, which brought some disaffected MPs in from the cold. One told The Telegraph: "Wakeford has saved Boris."
