Boris Johnson has admitted he regrets apologising for Downing Street lockdown parties.

The former Prime Minister said his admission deflected from the “very hard” work of officials in Number 10.

Questioned over a section in his new book about his Government’s handling of Partygate, Mr Johnson was asked by Tom Bradby: “You basically say it wasn’t a big deal. I regret apologising. Is that really your position?

“Did you regret apologising to the Queen?”

Mr Johnson refuses to answer and replies: “I don’t discuss my conversations with the Queen.”

Pressed further, the former Prime Minister continued: “What I was trying to say there was, I think that the blanket apology – the sort of apology I issued right at the beginning – I think the trouble with it was that afterwards, all the accusations that then rained down on officials who’d been working very hard in Number 10 and elsewhere were thought to be true.

“And by apologising I had sort of inadvertently validated the entire corpus and it wasn’t fair on those people.”

The row over parties in No10 eventually led to Mr Johnson’s exit from Downing Street last year.

It also contributed to his decision in June to quit as an MP following a probe by lawmakers into whether he misled Parliament over the gatherings.

Mr Johnson told the Covid Inquiry to focus on what he actually said and did during the pandemic, rather than relying on “people’s jottings from meetings”.

 

Mr Johnson, speaking to ITV News, also criticised former Prime Minister David Cameron for the chaos that followed Britain’s historic decision to leave the EU.

He told ITV News he was surprised Mr Cameron quit when the nation voted to leave the EU and criticised him for not having a plan.

The former PM said: “What we expected and what I think, you know, everybody expected was that the Cameron Government having called a referendum a “yes”, “no” choice for the people – a leave, remain choice for the people – would bring forward a white paper.”

Bradby interjects: “Why? He didn’t believe it – what made you possibly think that would be?

“Because every other European leader when their whole referendum decides, you know, once the people have voted, decides what to do and stays in office,” replied Mr Johnson.

“So, it’s not normal for the prime minister having asked for a referendum vote, suddenly, to evacuate the stage.”