LONDON – Police investigating lockdown exit parties in Downing Street said on Thursday they issued an additional 50 fines, increasing pr...
LONDON – Police investigating lockdown exit parties in Downing Street said on Thursday they issued an additional 50 fines, increasing pressure on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who had previously been penalized for an offense.
Mr Johnson was not among those affected by the latest announcement, his office said, although neither he nor police named those who were or provided further details.
London’s Metropolitan Police have now identified more than 100 cases of law breaking in government offices, including Downing Street – where Mr Johnson lives and works – underscoring the scale of the breach of the rules at the place where Britain’s tough coronavirus laws were written.
The new fines, known as fixed fines, are believed to relate in part to a pre-Christmas party in Downing Street in December 2020 which the Prime Minister was not present at, the BBC said. It was, however, the event that an aide to Mr Johnson, Allegra Stratton, was filmed joking about, leading to her resignation and the crisis known as ‘partygate’.
Mr Johnson, his wife Carrie Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak were all fined for attending a Prime Minister’s birthday celebration in Downing Street in June 2020. Although he apologised, Mr Johnson rejected the appeals. for him to resign.
At the time of the rallies, many Britons were doing personal sacrifice and, in some cases, were barred from contact with dying relatives.
The Metropolitan Police are still investigating whether a total of 12 gatherings in Downing Street and other government buildings broke the law, and it remains likely Mr Johnson could be fined at least one more.
Temporarily at least some of the political heat over Mr Johnson has died down after Durham Police decided to reopen an investigation into whether opposition Labor leader Keir Starmer also breached the lockdown rules drinking a beer and eating a catch. meal during a country visit last year.
Mr Starmer insists he broke no rules and, unlike Mr Johnson promised to resign if the police fine him.
However, until this police investigation is completed and Mr Starmer’s future is decided, this episode, inevitably dubbed ‘beergate’, is likely to blunt Labour’s attacks on the Prime Minister for his breach of the lockout rules.
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