[1andrew1]

Compare and contrast:

Boris Johnson urged by two more Tory MPs to step down over Sue Gray's partygate report

The latest announcements, which follow the report detailing drunkenness and partying at Number 10, mean that a total of 18 backbenchers are now calling on the prime minister to quit.

The announcements by John Baron and David Simmonds follow a similar call by their backbench colleague Julian Sturdy on Wednesday.

Mr Baron said the findings by senior civil servant Ms Gray as well as the Met Police investigation into the episode "paint a shameful pattern of misbehaviour during the pandemic as the rest of us kept to the COVID regulations".

Mr Simmonds said it was "clear that while the government and our policies enjoy the confidence of the public the prime minister does not" and that it was time for "new leadership".

Meanwhile, in Norfolk

A Conservative MP has defended Boris Johnson and suggested it was likely NHS staff had also been "letting their hair down" during the Covid pandemic.

Richard Bacon was speaking after Sue Gray's report highlighted the extent of lockdown parties at Downing Street.

Reacting to the report, Mr Bacon said: "The fact that [Mr Johnson] goes round thanking his staff for working very, very hard, 18 hours a day, to try and keep the show on the road when we were in a global pandemic is not, I think, a crime.

"And I don't think it's something he should be condemned for and I certainly don't think it's something he should resign for. I support Boris."

Mr Bacon, who represents South Norfolk, said the prime minister should not be "condemned".

Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting called for Mr Bacon to withdraw the statement and apologise.

In the interview with BBC Look East on Wednesday, he was asked if he was "comfortable" with the revelations around the drinking and partying at Downing Street during lockdown.

He replied: "No, of course I'm not but then I think they were working under huge pressure.

"You haven't gone and investigated it but there are one and a half million people who work in the NHS. I bet if you tried hard enough you could find some people letting their hair down who were working 24/7 in the NHS as well."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-61587994