Boris Johnson is expected to step down if he misled Parliament over parties at Number 10 - but only if he did so intentionally, Downing Street has said.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said he “abides by” the Ministerial Code, which said ministers who “knowingly mislead Parliament will be expected to offer their resignation”.
But he hastily denied the PM had ever lied to Parliament, and urged journalists not to “jump ahead” of a fact-finding report on parties across Whitehall, the Mirror reports.
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Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab insisted on Tuesday that an allegation from former chief adviser Dominic Cummings that the Prime Minister lied to the Commons is "nonsense".
Mr Johnson is facing renewed calls to quit after his ex-aide said he had warned against the "bring your own booze" event in the Downing Street garden during the first lockdown.
If true, this means the PM lied to the house in his apology last week.
The Ministerial Code says: "Ministers who knowingly mislead Parliament will be expected to offer their resignation to the Prime Minister."
Boris Johnson's spokesman said: “The guidance is clear, the Ministerial Code is very clear on this point, when it comes to knowingly misleading the House.
“And the Prime Minister abides by that and we fully support it”.
Asked to clarify that if the PM misled the House, he would resign, the spokesman said: "It’s important not to jump ahead and seek to conflate what is clearly set out in the Ministerial Code, which the Prime Minister has brought, and conflate that with what the investigation may or may not conclude or set out."
Asked if the PM had ever lied to the House, he replied: "No."
Chancellor Rishi Sunak insisted he has accepted Mr Johnson's explanation for what happened, saying that he supports his appeal for patience while an inquiry into events in Whitehall concludes.
But pressed during a pooled session with broadcasters whether he supports the Prime Minister "unequivocally", Mr Sunak abruptly removed his microphone and broke off the interview.
Mr Cummings said he is willing to "swear under oath" that Mr Johnson had lied when claiming he did not know in advance that the May 20 2020 event would be a "drinks party".
In the Commons last week, the Prime Minister admitted spending 25 minutes at the gathering but insisted he had believed "implicitly" that it would be a work event.
Mr Raab told Times Radio: "The suggestion that he lied is nonsense. He's made it very clear to the House of Commons that questions on this... that he thought it was a work event."
Mr Raab also described the event in question as a "party" before rowing back on the remark.
He told Sky News: "There was speculation that the May 20 party was held in my honour, to thank me, which is just ridiculous.
Asked if that means it was a party then, he said: "No, no, no, this was the claim that was made and it was nonsense, I wasn't invited and I didn't attend."
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