Boris Johnson yesterday Faced with calls for resignation Remarks by Scottish Conservative and some UK Conservative leaders after the Prime Minister attended the 10th “Bring Your Beverage” event during the lockdown.

Johnson tried to buy time with a partial apology, saying he thought the May 2020 gala was a ‘work event’ but failed to stem the wave of anger MP from his own party.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the public believed Johnson had “been lying”. More than half of the Conservative Party in the Scottish Parliament backed calls by its leader, Douglas Ross, for Johnson to resign.

Many Conservative MPs have said they will suspend judgment until senior Whitehall official Sue Gray publishes a report on No. 10 party culture during Covid-19 restrictions. The report is unlikely to be released before next week.

Do you think Johnson should resign?Let us know in our latest news polling. Thank you for reading FirstFT Europe/Africa.Here’s the rest of the news today – Jennifer

Five more stories in the news

1. Parliament should rule on state-backed digital currencies: peers British Parliament and not the Bank of England A decision on whether to introduce a state-backed digital currency must be made because of the potential “profound implications,” a House of Lords committee said.

2. Epstein plaintiffs get permission to sue Prince Andrew Civil lawsuit alleging the Duke of York sexually abused one of Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers will be allow to continue, a New York judge has ruled, threatening further legal consequences for the British royal family.

3. US inflation soars to 7% for the first time since 1982 Consumer prices rose in Fastest speed in nearly four years In December, that added to the Fed’s concerns about the threat of rising inflation and its impact on the economic recovery.

4. Novak Djokovic admits Covid violations Serbian tennis player admits he took part in filming After testing positive For Covid-19, it said discrepancies in his Australian entry documents were the result of “human error” Canberra considered deporting him.

5. Short sellers enter Beyond Meat Short positions in the plant-based meat maker’s stock have 40% increase It has become one of the most shorted companies in the U.S. market since late October, as investors fretted about weak sales and skepticism of the meatless craze grew.

coronavirus digest

• UK business reported twice the usual Employee absence With the spread of Omicron variants.inside we, the company temporarily Close or adjust working hours With the infection rate reaching an all-time high.

• Cathay Pacific have fight back Earlier, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam blamed the airline for the first Omicron outbreak in Hong Kong.

• One Chinese Court sentences three port workers to maximum 57 months in jail Violating Covid containment rules.

• A new artificial intelligence-based early warning system predictable Highest-risk coronavirus variants According to one study, from their genetic code.

• View: Home healthcare companies need to avoid alienating customers with shortages, high prices and unfulfilled promises, Master Brooke wrote.

the day ahead

UK trade talks Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will hold talks Working with EU Brexit Commissioner Maros Sefcovic and pledging to provide “constructive advice” to break the impasse over Northern Ireland’s trade arrangements.International Trade Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan will meet Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal will start formal negotiations on a post-Brexit free trade agreement.

retail revenue it’s a big day income. Tesco is expected to have the best Christmas ever in a UK supermarket. Investors will be looking for confirmation of a rebound in Marks & Spencer. Asos is looking for a new CEO. Persimmon, Halfords, Dunelm and Delta Air Lines.

Russia-Ukraine conflict Talks between Moscow and Western powers will move to vienna Discussions were held on Thursday with the 57 Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, including Russia, Ukraine and the United States.

Twitter returns to Nigeria country will Lift the seven-month ban After the social media company agreed to open a local office under other conditions.

US producer price index US data to be released the day after Consumer prices soar. Italy has industrial production data go out.

what are we still reading

Rococomiso’s football woes The US cable billionaire has bought the famous Italian club ACF Fiorentina for 170 million euros. Emotional cost? he is still counting“All the crap bureaucracy, it’s driving me crazy,” he told the Financial Times’ Murad Ahmed.

Take back shareholder power In the UK, almost everyone (at least at work) now owns a share in a listed company, Merion Somerset Webb writes. Anyway, we are technically part of the corporate world. So why can’t we better control their behavior?

How to recruit a better police force At a time of intense political battles fueled by police violence, choosing a candidate with authoritarian leanings could have huge consequences. Gillian Tate argues We need to shift the debate from issues like gun control to personality issues.

Families of Nazi Victims Reinstate Austrian Citizenship For Jewish descendants fleeing the Holocaust, legal amendments to the Austrian nationality law making them eligible to apply for citizenship reflect a change in attitude, Sarah Epner wrote, Head of FT Newsletter.

Mayonnaise accusations haunt Unilever Top 10 shareholder Terry Smith this week slammed Unilever’s eco-friendly branding of Hellmann products as “ridiculous”, in a sign Shareholder dissatisfaction Pursue principles rather than profits. Investor anger is likely to intensify as sales growth lags.

your response

This week we asked you what you think of Boris Johnson’s decision to take part in breaking the lockdown”bring your own wine“Events in May 2020. Here’s what you told us:

“[Boris Johnson] It is believed that he is not bound by the laws he has imposed on the rest of the country. How could anyone believe a word he said? “— Thomas Wyner, Oxfordshire

“People are prohibited from gathering in groups. . . whether a party happens or not is irrelevant to all of this. What matters is why so many people need to be in the office for the government to function, and why working from home is not an option”- Kevin Ryan, Leicestershire