"Sorry for the things we simply did not get right and sorry for the way that this matter has been handled."

Yet another apology from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday (January 31).

His response to a newly-released report into COVID-19 lockdown parties allegedly held at his Downing Street residence.

The investigation by senior civil servant Sue Gray highlighted serious failures of leadership and judgment at the heart of government.

And condemned some of the behavior by authority figures as being, quote, "difficult to justify".

Johnson said his government would learn from these criticisms.

"Mr Speaker, I get it, and I will fix it. And I want to say to the people of this country, I know what the issue is, it's whether this government can be trusted to deliver and I say yes we can be trusted, yes we can be trusted to deliver."

The inquiry said that some events at No. 10 during the pandemic should not have taken place.

But, so as not to prejudice an ongoing police probe into the parties that could take months, Gray said she could not offer a "meaningful report", and only an abridged version of her text has been released.

The commander overseeing the police investigation, Catherine Roper, says authorities plan to contact people with questions about the parties.

"...We had a bundle of material provided to us just Friday which is well over 500 pieces of paper, about a ream and a half we received, and over 300 photographs. So we've just received that and my offices are prioritizing this week to consider what's been provided in that bundle of material, what further investigations that they need to do and of course, who they're going to be contacted."

Johnson has so far survived calls from opponents and some in his own party to resign by saying people needed to wait for Gray's report.

For now, he must hope that his Conservative colleagues do not trigger a confidence vote against him in a bid to thrust him from office.

It is not clear what will happen if the police report shows evidence that Downing Street parties did in fact break the law.