Boris Johnson was left cringing as MPs challenged him over a shameless boozy bash for Tory MPs, held just hours after cops issued fines for law-breaking Downing Street parties.
The embattled Prime Minister treated around 200 Tories to a slap-up meal, with fine wines and entertainment, in a bid to boost his leadership after the Partygate scandal.
It came the same day as bereaved people marked one year of the National Covid Memorial Wall and as Scotland Yard confirmed 20 fixed penalty notices would be issued for breaches of rules the PM himself introduced.
Families held a candlelit vigil and shouted "off to another party, are you" as MPs marched past to attend the knees-up on Tuesday.
Speaking to MPs at the Commons' powerful Liaison Committee, the PM was confronted about the party at the Park Plaza Hotel in Westminster on Tuesday night.
Labour MP Catherine McKinnell said "lack of trust is raised regularly" in petitions, adding: "Can you appreciate, Prime Minister, that throwing a party for Tory MPs on the anniversary of the Covid Memorial, on the day that some fixed penalty notices were issued for lockdown-breaking in Whitehall, might give the impression to the public, that you don't care about how they feel about this?"
Mr Johnson sidestepped the direct question and spoke more generally about the government's handling of the pandemic, of which he said he was "proud".
He insisted "I care deeply", adding: "But we have worked incredibly hard across the whole of government to look after the population during the pandemic.
"Some things went well. Some things went less well. It was an incredibly difficult time. But I think overall the record of the of the UK Government in dealing with Covid has been pretty remarkable. And I am proud of it."
Ms McKinnell, who chairs the Commons' Petitions Committee, also pushed the PM to respond to tens of thousands of people who backed calls for lying in the Commons to be made a criminal offence.
It comes as the PM faces widespread anger over claims he misled Parliament over whether rules were broken in Whitehall during lockdown.
The PM said MPs would have to wait for the conclusion of both the Met Police probe into Partygate allegations, and the investigation by Whitehall enforcer Sue Gray was complete before he would say more.
He said: "I think that it's very important that you should be clear with the House of Commons and I've tried to be as clear as I can about my understanding of events.
"I've been back repeatedly before the commons to explain and apologise for the things that I think we've we've got wrong and I've no doubt that I will be I will be back again."
SNP MP Pete Wishart told the PM "parading" Tory MPs "in front of the Covid bereaved to go and party" the day fines were issued was "dreadful optics".
The PM replied: "That's not the way I see things."
Mr Wishart also called for the PM to set out whether he would offer his resignation if he personally was fined for lockdown breaches.
"Obviously, if you are served with one of them, you're pretty much toast, aren't you?," he said. "No Prime Minister could possibly survive being fined for criminality for the very rules that Prime Minister set.
"You'd be finished."
The PM said he "didn't wish to minimise" the issue but repeated that he did not plan to give "a running commentary".
Asked a similar question two more times, the PM insisted he would "camp pretty firmly on my position". "I've been very clear. I won't give running commentary on an ongoing investigation."
