Boris Johnson has again insisted he did not know he was breaking his own Covid laws, as he apologised to MPs for his lockdown fine.
Last week saw Mr Johnson became the first sitting prime minister to be sanctioned for breaking the law when he was fined by the Metropolitan Police, alongside his wife Carrie and Chancellor Rishi Sunak, over a birthday gathering for the PM in No 10 in June 2020.
He told MPs: "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 respect the outcome of the police investigation, which is still under way, and I can only say that I will respect their decision-making and always take the appropriate steps."
And Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said it was "profoundly damaging" to the UK to be "led by a man the public no longer trust and no longer have confidence in". And second, that he still had a lot more to do to level up the country and get people off benefits and into work. Tory MPs lined up to back the prime minister, who made repeated references to the war in Ukraine in his statement.
Mr Harper has submitted a letter of no confidence in the PM to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 committee, which organises Tory leadership contests.
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