Boris Johnson says media coverage of Partygate is 'millions of miles' from the truth in extraordinary rewriting of history

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxReceive our free View from Westminster emailPlease enter an email address valid emailPlease enter a valid email addressI would like to receive an email about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice{{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later.{{ /verifyErrors }}

Boris Johnson embarked on an extraordinary rewriting of history over Partygate as he gave evidence to the Covid inquiry, insisting that the public's perception of lockdown-breaking parties at Number 10 was a "million miles" from the truth.

In remarks that will infuriate bereaved families during the Covid pandemic, the he former Prime Minister said the depiction of repeated rallies during the pandemic was “absolutely absurd”.

Pressed by the saga – which ultimately sparked his downfall as Prime Minister – Mr Johnson said declared that the way Partygate was presented was a “parody of the truth.”

“I apologize for the offense caused, and if I had my time again, of course, I “I would have done things differently,” Mr Johnson said. But he added: “The characterization, the portrayal that was given of what civil servants and advisers were doing in Number 10, was a parody of the truth.

“They thought they were working very hard, which they were, and I certainly thought what we were doing was, as I said before, within the rules. »

He added that “the version of events” that has entered popular consciousness “about what is supposed to have happened in Downing Street” is “a million miles away.” reality...