British Prime Minister Boris Johnson defied growing calls for him to step down on Wednesday, telling lawmakers he would "keep going" following a wave of resignations from his government including those of two key ministers.
Johnson made the remarks in parliament in response to a question from a lawmaker in his own party who asked if the prime minister thought there were any circumstances in which he should resign.
"Clearly, if there were circumstances in which I felt it was impossible for the government to go on and discharge the mandate that we've been given, or if I felt, for instance, that we were being frustrated in our desire to support the Ukrainian people ... then I would," Johnson told parliament.
"But frankly, the job of a prime minister in difficult circumstances when you've been handed a colossal mandate is to keep going," Johnson said. "And that's what I'm going to do."
Johnson said he "couldn't disagree more" with a lawmaker from his own party who had called on him to resign and put the national interest before his own.
David Davis, a Conservative lawmaker who had previously called on Johnson to resign, told parliament that he was again asking Johnson: "to do the honourable thing, to put the interests of the nation before his own interest, and before ... it does become impossible for the government to do its job."
Johnson said he did not believe that it was against the national interest for him to remain as prime minister.
"I thank him very much for the point he's made again. I just couldn't disagree with him more," Johnson said.
