International media outlets have waded into the Partygate scandal that has hit the British headlines after the publication of an independent report into the illegal Downing Street parties.
Prime minister Boris Johnson has been called on to resign after senior civil servant Sue Gray’s report laid bare the extent of the socialising during coronavirus lockdown, which was outlawed by the government itself.
The vast majority of British media has focused on the hypocrisy, while a few right-leaning British newspapers have tried to downplay the scandal.
This is how media around the world has reported on this story:
Australia: ‘British public sick and tired of weasel words from leaders’
The Sydney Morning Herald focuses on the absurdity of the 16 gatherings hosted by the officials that have been responsible for running the country and making the law.
One of two articles published by the newspaper starts with: “Drunken gatherings, fisticuffs, vomiting, and red wine stains left on the walls. This was life inside Downing Street when the rest of Britain was under strict stay-at-home orders.
“Things were so warped that even the senior figure responsible for ethics and propriety provided a karaoke machine for a party.”
But, it points out, Mr Johnson may “survive” the scandal with “spin, distraction or indeed good political fortune” despite a YouGov poll suggesting that 59 per cent of people want him to resign.
It goes on: “[The parties were] a deliberate attempt to flout and manipulate rules which had separated families from loved ones, forced them to see their grandparents die on FaceTime, miss the birth of grandchildren or attend zoom funerals of friends.
“And that, ultimately, is what this scandal is all about. Whether the rules were extreme or misguided or an overreaction, that doesn’t matter. What matters is that they were applied to some and not others. And that is the way it will be viewed by a grumpy public which is sick and tired of the weasel words from its leaders.”
Canada: ‘Ukraine and inflation has shifted the public’s attention’
The Globe and Mail reports Mr Johnson’s apology for the conduct of his staff at what the newspaper described as the “occasionally raucous” parties held at Downing Street and the Cabinet Office.
Like the Sydney Morning Herald, it says the findings of the Sue Gray report are “unlikely to trigger any immediate threat to Mr Johnson’s leadership”, and that he has “largely weathered the storm”.
The war in Ukraine and inflation reaching its highest in 30 years “have shifted public attention,” it adds.
France: ‘Would lockdown violations be enough to revive anger among British people?’
Le Monde acknowledges that, during lockdown, people had made “heavy sacrifices” – as required by law.
The newspaper goes on to state that the 40-page Sue Gray report details the “overwhelming” violations during the parties, including drinking, “vomiting, altercations, music, departure through back doors in the early morning and sometimes disrespect for security or maintenance agents.”
The newspaper questions whether the report’s findings would be enough – “in absence of an election” – to “revive anger among the majority, or even demonstrate that the head of government lied to Parliament, which could precipitate his departure.”
Spain: ‘PM and officials had violated the rules imposed on all citizens during the pandemic’
News website El Espanol reported that Sue Gray discovered that there was an “altercation” between two people at one of the parties, drunkenness, and vomiting. It points out that those attending the parties were aware that they were doing something illegal because they were advised to “leave the building from the back”.
The report says: “Since the scandal was uncovered, Johnson has faced criticism from opposition politicians and some in his own party to resign after it was revealed that both he and the officials had violated the rules imposed on all citizens because of the pandemic.”
It ends with the line from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer: “There was a norm for them and a norm for everyone else.”
US: ‘Sue Gray report does not look like fatal blow that many expected’
A “scandal-scarred” PM has presided over a “disorderly workplace” where there had been “rampant violations” of coronavirus restrictions, the New York Times reports.
Sue Gray’s findings were “studded” with accounts of “late-night, booze-fueled revelry” at Downing Street, it also said before going on to describe a scene of “scattered wine bottles, a thumping karaoke machine, a broken swing set, and senior officials who encouraged the socializing even as they privately fretted it could create a public relations problem.”
But, like other media outlets, it pointed out that the published report “did not look like the fatal blow that many once warned it could be” even though Mr Johnson’s “political future has been hanging by a thread”.
