mostly fine and dry. that is your weather. hello, i m christian fraser. you re watching the context on bbc news. borisjohnson has offered mps a wholehearted apology after being fined by police for breaking lockdown rules he offered this explanation for reasons behind the rule breaking. it did not occur to me then or subsequently that a gathering in the cabinet room just before a vital meeting on covid strategy could amount to a breach of the rules. i repeat, that was my mistake and i apologise for it unreservedly. the leader of the opposition calls the apology a joke straight after that apology, borisjohnson tried to switch the focus to the war in ukraine. and the war rages on as russian and ukrainian forces engage along a a80 km front line as the fight for the eastern donbas region begins in earnest.
no parties in number ten, and whether this latest apology settles the score, with his restive backbenchers. let me also say, not by way of mitigation or excuse. groaning. ..but purely because it explains my previous words in this house, that it did not occur to me then or subsequently that a gathering in the cabinet room just before a vital meeting on covid strategy could amount to a breach of the rules. the apology was brief, humbly made, but the prime minister was quick to switch the focus, to what he insists is his overriding duty and that is the governments response to the war in ukraine, and the resulting cost of living crisis. mrjohnson told the house he had just come from a virtual meeting of g7 and nato leaders, at which it was decided the alliance would be stepping up its supply of heavy weaponry to ukrainian forces. our long term goal must be to strengthen and fortify ukraine
he may want to talk about something else, but this isn t over yet. did you lie to parliament, prime minister? boris johnson s honesty and integrity are being questioned. many of his mps offered support as he made a choreographed commons entrance with his chancellor. you re cheering a criminal , shouted labour. i now call the prime minister. all he could do was apologise again. it did not occur to me then, or subsequently, that a gathering in the cabinet room just before a vital meeting on covid strategy could amount to a breach of the rules. i repeat, that was my mistake, and i apologise for it unreservedly. mrjohnson said last week he d been fined for a gathering with colleagues that had lasted just nine minutes. the labour leader accused him of coming up with insulting and absurd excuses.
you re cheering a criminal , shouted labour. i now call the prime minister. all he could do was apologise again. it did not occur to me then, or subsequently, that a gathering in the cabinet room just before a vital meeting on covid strategy could amount to a breach of the rules. i repeat, that was my mistake. and i apologise for it unreservedly. mrjohnson said last week he had been fined for a gathering with colleagues that had lasted just nine minutes. the labour leader accused him of coming up with insulting and absurd excuses. what a joke. even now, as the latest mealy mouthed apology stumbles out of one side of his mouth, a new set of deflections and distortions pour from the other. but the damage is already done.
to attend the funeral over the weekend for the late senate majority leader harry reid. josh, stephanie on this friday morning. a big thank you to both of you. we re going to continue to keep an eye on the white house and we ll jump into president biden s speech just as soon as it starts. it was initially slated to start about 25 minutes ago. as you have probably come to realize, this is a white house that frequently runs behind schedule. when the speech starts, we ll take you there. still ahead this hour, shutting down the virus, or will we just have to live with it? it s the new debate among former biden advisers over the white house s covid strategy. what the cdc director is saying about that this morning. also raising the stakes even more. a supreme court showdown right now over the biden administration s vaccine mandates impacting about 100 million people. what it could mean for our fight against the pandemic.