United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson has admitted he attended a controversial "bring your own booze" Garden Party at his office while the country was in lockdown.
He apologised for the May 2020 Party but insisted he "believed implicitly that this was a work event" and refused repeated calls to resign.
Opposition Leader Keir Starmer described the apology as "pathetic" and "worthless".
"I know that millions of people across this country have made extraordinary sacrifices over the last 18 months," Mr Johnson told Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday.
"I know the anguish that they have been through, unable to mourn their relatives, unable to live their lives as they want or to do the things they love.
"And I know the rage they feel with me and with the government I lead when they think that in Downing Street itself, the rules are not being properly followed by the people who make the rules.
"And though I cannot anticipate the conclusions of the current inquiry, I have learned enough to know that there were things we simply did not get right and I must take responsibility."
Opposition politicians had called for a police investigation after broadcaster ITV on Tuesday published a leaked email invitation to "socially distanced drinks" in the garden of the Prime Minister's Downing Street office.
The email from the Prime Minister's private secretary, Martin Reynolds, was sent to dozens of people and urged attendees to "bring your own booze."
The event was scheduled for May 20, 2020 — the same day the government at a televised news conference reminded people they could only meet up with one person outside their household.
During Britain's first lockdown, which began in March 2020 and lasted for more than two months, gatherings were banned with a few exceptions, including work and funerals.
Millions of people were cut off from friends and family, and even barred from visiting dying relatives in hospitals.
On the day of the garden party, 268 people with the coronavirus died in Britain, according to official figures, bringing total deaths to more than 36,000. The total now stands at more than 150,000, the highest toll in Europe after Russia.
