British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, his wife Carrie and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak will be fined by the police for attending parties during the country’s COVID-19 lockdown, Downing Street confirmed on Tuesday.
A government spokesperson said that on Tuesday, they “received notification that the Metropolitan Police (Met) intend to issue them with fixed penalty notices.”
“We have no further details, but we will update you again when we do,” the spokesperson stated.
The MET had previously said that it had issued 30 more fines over breaches of coronavirus lockdown rules at gatherings in Johnson’s offices and residence at Downing Street.
The Met issued the first set of 20 such fines at the end of March.
The matter has to do with a MET investigation at the end of January into 12 alleged events that included a boozy garden party on May 20, 2020, during the country’s first COVID-19 lockdown, which Johnson said he mistook for a work event.
It also involved a birthday party for Johnson on June 19, 2020.
A separate government investigation, led by senior civil servant Sue Gray, reported on January 31 said that there were “failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No. 10 (Downing Street) and the Cabinet Office at different times.”
Tuesday’s announcement has prompted the opposition to call on both Johnson and Sunak to resign.
“Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak have broken the law and repeatedly lied to the British public,” Keir Starmer, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, said on Twitter. “They must both resign.”
