A minister has admitted that the government could have handled the partygate scandal better.
Small business minister Paul Scully also said it was “frustrating” that the scandal was distracting from other government business.
Scully said Boris Johnson accepted that the Met Police “found he broke the law” and that he had “done wrong”.
He made the comments after Johnson survived his first clash with MPs following his £50 fine for breaking his own lockdown rules.
His words echo some Tory backbenchers who have told HuffPost UK they wish Downing Street had held its hands up earlier in the crisis when allegations about rule breaking first emerged.
Asked if there was a moment when he wished it had never happened, Scully told Times Radio: “Yeh, I mean, we could have handled this a lot better.
“I freely admit that and it’s frustrating because I was supposed to be here to talk to you about the action that we’re taking on subscription traps and fake reviews, which actually cost every household a lot of money each year, especially with the cost of living crisis. So it is a distraction, clearly.”
Yesterday the prime minister gave a “wholehearted apology” after being issued with a fixed-penalty notice for attending a gathering to celebrate his 56th birthday.
However, he insisted that he had not misled the Commons when he said last December that Covid rules were followed at all times in Downing Street.
According to the ministerial code, ministers who “knowingly mislead parliament” are expected to offer their resignation.
Scully said that if someone breaks the ministerial code, the “right thing” to do was to resign.
However, he stressed that in his opinion the PM did not “knowingly” mislead parliament.
During the Commons clash, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer branded Johnson “a man without shame” and former Tory chief whip Mark Harper announced he had submitted a letter of no confidence in the PM.