The police have fined Prime Minister Boris Johnson for enjoying a birthday party in Number 10 during a Covid lockdown in June 2020, in a clear breach of the law.
Johnson’s fine makes him the UK’s first serving prime minister to be sanctioned for breaking the law whilst in office, and whilst there is no legal requirement for him to resign, his actions and lying about the parties in the House of Commons are a clear breach of the ministerial code and should be an immediate cause for resignation.
Opinion polls show the vast majority of the British public believe Boris’ actions should mean he leaves Number 10 with immediate effect.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak and the PM’s wife, Carrie Johnson, have also been notified they will get fines for attending Johnson’s party.
The fines are the latest announced by the Metropolitan Police into a series of parties held in Downing Street throughout various Covid lockdowns throughout 2020 and 2021, a scandal known as “partygate”.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, Scotland’s First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, and Wales’ Labour First Minister Mark Drakeford have all called for the PM and the chancellor to resign. And all major opposition parties in Westminster have demanded Parliament be recalled from its Easter break to debate the PM’s actions and the series of lies he told about the illegal parties after the fact.
Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak have broken the law and repeatedly lied to the British public.
They must both resign.
The Conservatives are totally unfit to govern. Britain deserves better.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) April 12, 2022
Boris Johnson must resign. He broke the law and repeatedly lied to parliament about it. The basic values of integrity and decency – essential to the proper working of any parliamentary democracy – demand that he go.
And he should take his out of touch chancellor with him. https://t.co/rqfWavTvjp— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) April 12, 2022
You can’t be a law-maker and a law-breaker. The Prime Minister has denied time and again that he did anything wrong.
He has clearly broken the laws he made and asked people to follow. People are angry and upset. I don’t see how someone in this position can carry on.
— Mark Drakeford (@PrifWeinidog) April 12, 2022
This is a government in crisis neglecting a country in crisis. Parliament must be recalled for a vote of No Confidence in the Prime Minister.
— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) April 12, 2022
Neither Boris Johnson or Rishi Sunak have made statements about the fines, but they have been confirmed by Number 10 officials.
