Thursday January 13 2022 | thetimes.co.uk | No 73679 2GBoris Johnson defied calls last night for
his resignation over lockdown parties
in Downing Street as the Tories fell to
their lowest poll rating against Labour
in almost a decade.
The prime minister apologised to the
public for the “rage they feel” over the
allegations as he admitted attending an
event in the No 10 garden in May 2020.
He said he believed it was a work
event and that he had not seen an
invitation from his principal private
secretary for 100 staff to bring their own
alcohol to “socially distanced drinks”.
Tory MPs said he later told them in
the Commons tea room that he did
not believe he had personally done
anything wrong and said that “we’re
taking hits for something we don’t
deserve”.
Douglas Ross, leader of the Scottish
Conservatives, called on Johnson to
quit because his position was “no longer
tenable”. He said Johnson told him that
he did not feel personally responsible.
“I don’t think he can continue as
leader of the Conservative Party and
prime minister, asking people to follow
the rules and guidance of his govern-
ment, when I don’t believe he did,” he
said. Ross said he would write to the
1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers
to call for Johnson’s resignation.
Several other Tory MPs also called
on him to quit, including William
Wragg, a senior member of the 1922
Committee, who described his position
as “indefensible”. Johnson, however, is
said to be determined to stay. “He’s not
going to resign, he’s a fighter,” one ally
Giuffre’s accusations that she was
forced to have sex with him more than
two decades ago at a London home of
Ghislaine Maxwell, 60, an associate of
the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
David Boies, Giuffre’s lawyer whose
cross-examination of Maxwell led to
perjury charges against her, would have
broad leeway to question Andrew on
the allegations and on conversations he
may have had with the Queen.
Andrew’s former wife, Sarah, Duch-
ess of York, and their daughter Princess
Beatrice could also face questioning as
the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebra-
tions are held in June. Judge Kaplan
wants depositions to be completed byJuly and wants the case to be ready for
trial by July 28, although he does not
expect it to start until September.
Yesterday Boies said that Giuffre, 38,
was “pleased that Prince Andrew’s
motion to dismiss has been denied, and
that evidence will now be taken
concerning her claims against him”.
Sigrid McCawley, a managing
partner at Boies’s firm, Boies Schiller
Flexner, called the decision “another
important step in Virginia’s heroic and
determined pursuit of justice as a
survivor of sex trafficking”.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman
declined to comment “on what is an
Continued on page 2, col 3Steven Swinford, Oliver Wright
Henry Zeffman, Kieran Andrews
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Deborah Ross Help!
Should I get a new dog?
Inside
TimesSee page 24 for details22222222 2G 22 2G 22 2G 22 2G 22222222 2G 22222222222222222222222222 GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGREX FEATURESThe Duke of York could be questioned for seven hours over claims that Virginia Giuffre was forced to have sex with himDefiant PM
refuses to
quit as polls
slip further
‘We don’t deserve’ criticism, Johnson told MPs
said. “He has more fight in him than the
vast majority of people. He’s frustrated
that he’s in this position. He’s a force of
nature. If there’s a single person who
can charge through all of this it will be
him. Never underprice that.”
Most Tory MPs kept their counsel
before the publication of a report by
Sue Gray, the senior official that John-
son has commissioned to investigate
claims of parties in Downing Street. It is
expected at the end of next week.
A YouGov poll for The Times found
that six in ten voters believed that John-
son should resign, including 38 per cent
of those who voted Tory at the last
election. Johnson’s approval ratings are
at their lowest level yet. The Tories
have fallen ten points behind Labour,
the biggest gap since December 2013.
Cabinet ministers lined up to defend
the prime minister. However, for much
of the day neither Rishi Sunak, the
chancellor, nor Liz Truss, the foreign
secretary, who are both seen as pot-
ential leadership rivals, sent public
messages of support. Sunak was on a
visit to Devon. Truss was sitting at
Johnson’s side at prime minister’s ques-
tions but did not immediately state her
support. One cabinet minister accused
them of “obvious game-playing”.
In a tweet that some noted showed
less than wholehearted backing for
Johnson, Sunak wrote at 8.20pm: “The
PM was right to apologise and I support
his request for patience while Sue Gray
carries out her enquiry.”
Truss eventually tweeted at 9.14pm:
“I stand behind the prime minister
100% as he takes our country forward.”
Johnson apologised in the Commons
Continued on page 2, col 3Andrew to face grilling by trial lawyers
Will Pavia, Charlotte WaceThe Duke of York faces being cross-
examined on camera by one of Amer-
ica’s most feared trial lawyers after a
judge refused to dismiss a sexual assault
case against him by Virginia Giuffre.
The ruling allows the civil case to
proceed towards a trial before a jury in
New York this year.
Judge Lewis Kaplan’s rejection of the
duke’s motion to dismiss the case opens
the way for him to be questioned by
Giuffre’s lawyer under oath in a seven-
hour deposition that could then be
played before a jury.
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