Sajid Javid admitted that the string of parties said to have taken place in Downing Street over the course of the pandemic have “damaged” the UK’s democracy.
Mishal Husain, presenter on BBC Radio 4′s Today programme, asked the health secretary on Thursday what kind of impact the so-called “partygate” will have had on the public and its relationship with the government.
She asked: “Do you agree that the effect on this [country’s system] is corrosive?
“We pride ourselves on being the kind of country where largely people follow the rules, we can police by consent, where we don’t have to be a police state.
“And when you have something like this that sort of makes people throw their hands up and say, ‘What was going on in Downing Street at a time when all of us where living that way’ – that damages our democracy, doesn’t it?”
Javid – usually a staunch supporter of Boris Johnson – replied: “Yes it does. Of course things like this damage our democracy and that is why –”
“And this Downing Street has damaged our democracy,” Husain claimed.
The cabinet minister quickly backtracked and said: “No, no no.”
He pointed out that the parties which we know have definitely taken place, such as the one which took place on the eve before Prince Philip’s funeral in April 2021, alone have been “damaging”.
Javid said that this particular social gathering “was wrong in every single way” on its own, adding: “Of course it is.”
But there are now 15 alleged social gatherings said to have taken place in Downing Street and other government offices over the pandemic.
The health secretary also said he had been infuriated by the allegations of parties, just like the public.
“First of all, I was angered, and your listeners will have been angered and millions across the country, by what they’ve seen, by what they’ve heard.
“And they’re right to be angry, by the way, and to be pained by this,” he said.
“If there were people at the heart of government who were not following the rules, they should be disciplined and I look forward to that disciplinary action.”
Javid was not in the cabinet when most of these parties are alleged to have taken place, having only replaced Matt Hancock as health secretary in June 2021.
However, he did side with the prime minister later on in the interview and said the UK should wait for the “facts to be established” in top civil servant Sue Gray’s inquiry before anyone decides whether to oust Johnson from office.
Javid maintained that the only way to get through partygate is to get the “facts on the table” and defended the prime minister by claiming he had already taken “full responsibility” for the parties.
Husain also asked if “trust in Boris Johnson” had been damaged in the fallout – after the prime minister repeatedly claimed there were no Downing Street parties – to which Javid replied: “I think the public are asking questions, and I think they are right to ask questions.”
The health secretary also claimed that the prime minister is “not going anywhere” during other media interviews, despite the ongoing discontent over partygate from both the public and Tory backbenchers.