And after the fake apology the stupid British people carry on following the rules the lawmakers break. Once again.

It comes at a time when public trust in his government has dropped because of numerous sleaze scandals. It was only weeks ago that Johnson tried to save a member of his own party who had been involved in a lobbying scandal. There is an ongoing investigation into how the PM paid for a refurbishment of his Downing Street flat, which he has insisted he paid for.

Boris Johnson has faced many scandals in his more than two years as UK Prime Minister. But the latest one is the gravest yet.

And if history tells us anything, individual scandals don't sink a leader; but a tidal wave of sleaze can drown them. Johnson might have passed the point at which it's possible to keep his head above water.

Downing Street's position, before and since the video was leaked, is this: "There was no Christmas party and coronavirus rules had been followed at all times." Johnson has announced an internal inquiry and on Wednesday, one of the officials in the video -- the prime minister's former spokeswoman Allegra Stratton, resigned as a government adviser.

The accusations are damaging for the government because they make it harder to enforce future coronavirus restrictions if officials involved in drawing them up don't follow them. The charge of government hypocrisy is potent -- last year it forced the resignation of a key aide to Johnson, and the health secretary in June this year, in separate scandals that were also characterized by claims of double standards.

The video itself is the most damaging element of the story. It shows Stratton rehearsing for a televised news conference on Tuesday December 22, being asked by colleagues whether a party took place "on Friday night" -- which would have been December 18, the date of the second alleged party. Stratton says, "I went home." She then laughs and smiles. "Hold on. Hold on. Um. Er. Ah."

She also said in the clip, shown by ITV, "This fictional party was a business meeting and it was not socially distanced."

Until now, the government had maintained its line that no party had taken place. But on Wednesday, referring to the video, Johnson apologized in parliament on Wednesday "unreservedly for the offense that it has caused."

He added: "I have been repeatedly assured that there was no party and no rules were broken." He announced that his Cabinet Secretary will be investigating the events of December 18 - the date of the second alleged party and not the event at which CNN has been told he spoke -- and would report back.

"To all who lost loved ones, endured intolerable loneliness and struggled with your businesses - I am sorry and this afternoon I offered my resignation to the Prime Minister."

Conservative Party chairman Oliver Dowden said last week, "My focus has not been on having conversations about what may or may not have happened over a year ago in Downing Street. I have, however, been assured by what the Prime Minister has said, which is that the rules at all times were obeyed in Downing Street."

Both gatherings took place while London was under strict lockdown measures and social gatherings were banned. The day before the December 18 gathering, the government even sent a tweet warning "you must not have a work Christmas lunch or party, where that is a primarily social activity."

"There are simply no words to describe how upsetting and shameful it is to then hear Boris Johnson's team laughing about breaking the rules they had made, whilst others followed them and could only say goodbye to their loved ones through a screen," the Bereaved Families group said in a statement. "It's the behaviour of people who think they're above us."

For obvious reasons, this is a deeply damaging moment for a PM who has been accused many times of acting as though there is one rule for himself and his inner circle and the citizens he governs.

One senior Number 10 official, who is not a Johnson ally and was present at the gatherings in question explained, "Obviously this looks bad, but from our perspective, we were working 18-hour days. It was entirely normal that we would have drinks on our desks." They claim that these were not organized parties as such, but semi-spontaneous gatherings at the end of stressful workdays between people who, because of their jobs, had to mix anyway.

In a single quote, this lays bare the problem Johnson now faces. It is an admission that the rules simply didn't apply to a select group of people who worked directly for the PM, who himself was hospitalized for a week and spent time in intensive care with the virus.

However, the video of Stratton joking about the party has turned even Johnson's allies against him.