London, Feb 4 : Four top aides to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned just days after an investigation’s revelations of the parties at Downing Street during Covid-19 lockdown rules, the media reported on Friday. Johnson’s Head of Policy Munira Mirza, Chief of Staff Dan Rosenfield, Principal Private Secretary Martin Reynolds and Communications Director Jack Doyle all left their posts on Thursday, just days after a damning investigation revealed that multiple parties took place at Downing Street while the rest of the UK was living under strict Covid-19 lockdown rules, CNN reported. On Monday, a report was released which revealed that the multiple parties and excessive drinking culture at Downing Street. “There had been a failure of leadership in Johnson’s government,” said Sue Gray, the author of the report and a senior civil servant.
“Against the backdrop of the pandemic, when the government was asking citizens to accept far-reaching restrictions on their lives, some of the behaviour surrounding these gatherings is difficult to justify,” the report said. According to CNN, Mirza, whose resignation is considered the most consequential, said in her resignation letter that she believed “it was wrong” for Johnson “to imply this week that Keir Starmer, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, was personally responsible for allowing Jimmy Savile, Britain’s most notorious pedophile, to escape justice. There was no fair or reasonable basis for that assertion”. “You tried to clarify your position today but, despite my urging, you did not apologise for the misleading impression you gave,” Mirza said. A British media cited Johnson as saying that he was sorry to lose Mirza. She had worked with Johnson for 14 years.
