Only a ‘really grovelling apology’ will do for Boris Johnson says former media advisor Guto Harri

Boris Johnson’s former communications advisor Guto Harri has said that only a “really grovelling apology” will do when the Prime Minister stands up in the House of Commons today.

The S4C Byd yn ei Le presenter said that it was “safe to assume” that there were numerous other parties such as that to which staff were invited in the Downing Street garden on 20th March.

Speaking on Newsnight, Guto Harri said that the ongoing drip feed of damaging revelations were “toxic” for the Prime Minister and that someone needed to “get a grip”.

“He has to say: ‘There’s a reason, it was understandable at the time – but it wasn’t acceptable’,” Guto Hari said.

“‘And I can see that because of the pain it’s caused you, whatever pressure they were under – and they were not there partying, they were working and having a drink at the end of the day – but it was against the rules’. And the rules were passed by the people present, and that’s the problem.

“And in the end, there’s nothing short of context and a grovelling apology – a really grovelling apology.”

‘Mad diversion’

Guto Harri said that what made it so damaging was it was the same people who made the laws others obeyed to who were seen to be flouting them.

“I think it’s serious on one level because it’s gone on and on and on and it’s haemorrhaging and he’s not taking control of it which is just bad administration,” he said.

“But it’s more toxic than that. In the end, I would defend any doctor, nurse, medic who would gather at the end of a really stressful shift and have a glass of wine together before going home.

“But this is not those people. These are the people who made those laws and proscribed those laws for the rest of us, and then did not live by them. And that’s why it’s toxic.

“On one level it is a mad diversion from big, big affairs of state.  But on another level, it goes to the heart of what people care about.

“I think we can safely assume that there were many more gatherings like this because it seems to be a pattern. Somebody needs to put them in context and explain, yes maybe they’re unforgivable but they’re also understandable at the time in some ways.

“The problem at the moment is that nobody seems to be getting a grip, and the Prime Minister has to invite an inquiry to conclude what went on in his own house.”