good evening. for the first time, boris johnson has admitted that he did attend a drinks party in the downing street garden at the height of the first lockdown. in a packed house of commons, the prime minister apologised and said he understood the rage felt by those people who d obeyed the rules at the time and in some cases were unable to be with loved ones when they died. but he went on to infuriate many mps by suggesting that the gathering had been technically within the rules because he believed it was a work event. the labour leader, sir keir starmer, said the prime minister had run out of road. he said his defence was ridiculous and offensive and called on mrjohnson to resign. and that call was echoed by the leader of the scottish conservatives. our political editor, laura kuenssberg, has the latest. a mess there is no other word. a prime minister belatedly trying to clean up. with an admission of possible rule breaking
in the commons yesterday, borisjohnson did finally admit he had been at a party but said his garden was a workspace. technically, it was within the rules. i believed implicitly that this was a work event. many watching including bereaved families didn t believe him. it wasn t an apology, he didn t so sorry, he basically gas lit the entire nation in saying the event that was illegal at the time was a work event and not a party. we all know that s not true. one by one, his cabinet have come forward to back him. the foreign secretary late in the evening said she was behind him 100%, and the chancellor, too a bit lukewarm requested patience while an inquiry is under way. a handful of his own mps have lost patience, publicly calling on him to go.
i suspect their response similar? i suspect their response will be, similar? i suspect their response will be, this wasn t similar, this was an will be, this wasn t similar, this was an actual work event, not a government work event, which was obviously government work event, which was obviously code now for party central1 obviously code now for party central. ~ obviously code now for party central. ~ , obviously code now for party central- obviously code now for party central. ~ ,, t, t, t, central. we have time for one more away from politics, central. we have time for one more away from politics, i ll central. we have time for one more away from politics, i ll get central. we have time for one more away from politics, i ll get a - away from politics, i ll get a word from both of you because this is very much your area, martin gopac, djokovic, is the headline the metro. a, gopac, d okovic, is the headline the metro. ., ., ., the metro. a huge amount
and these weather fronts could move in on sunday but most places i think will be dry. quite a bit of clout around and temperatures around the seasonal norm. a reminder of our top story. an apology from boris johnson an apology from borisjohnson who admits attending a work event in the garden of io admits attending a work event in the garden of 10 downing street in may 2020 when the uk was in lockdown. that s all from the bbc news at one good afternoon, it s 1.30pm and here s your latest sports news. novak djokovic has admitted failing to isolate after finding out he d tested positive for covid i9. he called it an error ofjudgement in a statement on social media. it s the latest development in his attempts to stay in melbourne to defend his australian open title.
borisjohnson s future as prime minister remains in the balance, despite his apology for attending a drinks party during the first coronavirus lockdown in 2020. some senior conservatives are calling for him to resign. but members of the cabinet have rallied to his defence, after he said yesterday, he understood the public s rage at his actions. he pulled out of a planned visit to a vaccination clinic today, following a family member, testing positive for coronavirus. with all the latest, here s our political correspondent, helen catt. westminster is waiting. as the fallout from the prime minister s apology for how he handled what he maintains was a work event continues, borisjohnson should have been out in front of the cameras in lancashire today, but the visit was cancelled. one of his family members tested positive for covid.