‘INDEFENSIBLE'

Doubts over Boris future grow as more Tory MPs hit out over partygate

- Nicholas Cecil, Rachael Burford and David Bond

BORIS JOHNSON was today warned by Tory MPs that a bring-your-own-booze party at No10 is “indefensible” as he scrambled to rescue his leadership plunged into unprecedented crisis by the Partygate scandal.

The MPs warned “rule makers cannot be rule breakers” and that there would have to be “consequences” for those who flouted them.

They also stressed the Government faced a “crunch point” when top civil servant Sue Gray reports over the string of alleged parties in Downing Street during lockdown or when London was in Tier 3 restrictions. A growing number of Tory MPs went public today with their anger and dismay over the parties, accusing the Government of “spilling into denial” by refusing for days to say if Mr Johnson was at the reported “bring-your-own-booze” gathering in the No10 garden on May 20, 2020, when Britain was in lockdown. Before Mr Johnson faced MPs in the Commons today, Christian Wakeford, a Conservative “Red Wall” MP, told the Standard: “How do you defend the indefensible? You can’t.

“It’s beyond parody. Even The Thick Of It wasn’t this cringeworthy.

“For all those who kept to the rules and missed out on deaths and funerals, I’m so sorry for what must feel like a kick in the face.”

He added: “We need openness, trust and honesty in our politics now more than ever and that starts from the top.”