The UK Chancellor claimed he was at the PM’s birthday party for a meeting to discuss the Covid-19 situation
A police cruiser blocks University Avenue during a demonstration in support of a trucker convoy in Ottawa on Saturday. Pic/AP
UK’s Indian-origin Chancellor Rishi Sunak has admitted to attending Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s lockdown birthday party in 2020 but refused to say what happened when he entered the room and claimed that he was there for a meeting to discuss the Covid-19 situation. His comments came after Johnson’s five aides, including longstanding policy chief Munira Mirza, chief of staff Dan Rosenfield, principal private secretary Martin Reynolds and communications director Jack Doyle, resigned from their posts within hours of each other on Thursday.
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They stepped down after a damning investigation revealed that multiple parties took place at Downing Street while the rest of the United Kingdom was living under strict Covid-19 lockdown rules. Sunak admitted to attending Johnson’s lockdown birthday party in 2020 but refused to say what happened when he entered the room, the Mirror newspaper reported. The Chancellor said that he was in the Cabinet Room for Johnson’s lockdown birthday party but insisted he was there for a meeting to discuss the Covid-19 situation.
Sunak, 41, insisted that Prime Minister Johnson, who is facing growing calls for his resignation, has his “full support.” Dismissing talk of him replacing Johnson, the Chancellor said that the Prime Minister had always told the truth about the parties. “Yes, of course he does. He is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom,” he said. Asked whether the parties held in violation of Covid-19 lockdown rules damaged the public’s confidence in the government, Sunak said, “Yes, I think it has. I can appreciate people’s frustration. And I think it’s now the job of all of us in government, all politicians, to restore people’s trust”.
Protests spread across Canada
Protesters opposed to vaccine mandates and Covid-19 restrictions held rallies in cities across Canada on Saturday in a show of solidarity with a week-long demonstration in capital Ottawa. Officials in Ottawa and numerous provincial capitals worked to ensure that protests remained peaceful Saturday. Demonstrators also gathered in Quebec City, Fredericton and Winnipeg, with rallies planned for Regina, Edmonton, Vancouver, Victoria and U.S. border crossing in Coutts, Alta.
Negative Covid test not necessary to enter Portugal
The Portuguese Council of Ministers has decided that a negative Covid-19 test is no longer required to enter Portugal from Monday onwards. From then, it is only necessary to present the digital vaccination certificate from the EU or another proof “duly recognised”, Xinhua news agency quoted an official.
28,71,646
No. of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours
38,65,48,962
Total no. of cases worldwide
57,05,754
Total no. of deaths worldwide
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