Johnson denies he was warned No 10 event in May 2020 was against rules and says he did not lie to parliament – as it happened

6.07pm GMT

Early evening summary

• Boris Johnson has claimed “nobody warned me it was against the rules” for a drinks party to be hosted in Downing Street during the first lockdown, but also refused to deny the possibility he could resign should he be censured by the inquiry into rule-breaking. Responding to Johnson’s interview, Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, has said it shows he knows he’s at “the end of the road”. (See 1.53pm.)

• Sue Gray, the civil servant investigating the partygate scandal, has said she will interview Dominic Cummings, the former No 10 aide who says he is willing to give evidence on oath that Johnson has lied about the Downing Streeet drinks party on 20 May 2020. (See 5.42pm.)

• Christian Wakeford has become the seventh Tory MP to publicly call for a no confidence vote in Johnson. (See 5.40pm.) MPs have been meeting to discuss their next steps, and there is increasing speculation that 54 letters demanding a confidence vote will soon be with the 1922 Committee chairman, Sir Graham Brady, meaning the threshold for a ballot would have been met.

• Dominic Raab has admitted that lying to parliament is “normally” a resigning matter, amid claims that the prime minister deliberately misled MPs over his knowledge of a Downing Street party.

• Restrictions brought in before Christmas to stem the Omicron surge across Scotland are to be lifted from next Monday, Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has said.

• Controversial measures including police powers to stop noisy protests could be brought back to the Commons by the government after a series of late-night defeats in the Lords, the justice secretary has said.

• The court of appeal has overturned a ruling that found that a government contract given to a polling company with links to Dominic Cummings was unlawful.

• Labour has called on the government to immediately withdraw a proposed law that would allow the Democratic Unionist party leader to “double job” at Westminster and Stormont.

That’s all from me for today. But our Covid coverage continues on our global live blog.

5.46pm GMT

And this is from the Times’ Steven Swinford, reporting the response of a Boris Johnson supporter in cabinet to news that “red wall” Tories are plotting against him.

The Red Wall plot to remove Boris Johnson - with Tory MPs meeting to discuss submitting letters - is not going down well in Cabinet

'It's pretty sickening. They were only elected because of him. Most of them are a load of fucking nobodies. It's nuts'

— Steven Swinford (@Steven_Swinford) January 18, 2022

Updated at 6.00pm GMT