AN MP said he still stands by Prime Minister Boris Johnson but would not support him if evidence revealed he deliberately lied to parliament.

Mr Johnson delivered a statement in the House of Commons on Monday apologising in the wake of Sue Gray’s redacted report into the alleged lockdown gatherings held across Number 10.

However, the Prime Minister failed to confirm whether he’d publish the full, unredacted report once the Metropolitan Police finished investigating

Reacting to the statement, Christchurch MP Sir Christopher Chope told the Daily Echo: “I thought that the best comment came from my close colleague Julian Lewis, he was asking the question I had been asking over the weekend, there is no reason why Sue Gray should not publish it in full, she decided not to and that created the unfortunate things we saw today and I am disappointed the government has not said it will call for it to be published.

“The report is not meaningful and it is not helpful. I was surprised the official opposition didn’t say they were going to use opposition day to put forward a motion requiring the full report.

“I don’t think it could make things any worse, the devil will be in the detail.

“The most important thing is to get to the bottom of whether or not it is right to keep suggesting the Prime Minister is a liar.

“I support the Prime Minister, if there was any evidence he had deliberately lied to parliament I do not support him.

“I thought that the answers given were unsatisfactory. This could run on for months and it’s not good for governance.”

Meanwhile, Bournemouth East MP, Tobias Ellwood described the situation as a “farce”.

He said: “This is turning into a farce, it does need to be concluded. The promises that were given last week was to give people all the facts and figures and we are losing that.

“The jury has been out for a number of weeks [on my support of the Prime Minister], unfortunately, in order to give the opportunity for the Prime Minister to make his case.

“It is not being made and we are seeing delay when we have so many more domestic and international matters, it is a huge distraction.”