Officials confirmed that the UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson, his wife and Finance Minister Rishi, would be punished for violating the lockdown restrictions they placed on the British public during Covid-19.
This made PM Johnson the first sitting UK Prime Minister to ever be punished under the law.
Spokespeople representing the three claimed that they were not informed of the specific incident which led to the fines. However, the trio reportedly went to the Prime Minister’s Birthday Party in June 2020.
This news has led to renewed calls for Johnson’s resignation. The call grew in January as a result of the scandal that was raging. “partygate” by the media, with Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer, Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Liberal Democrat Party leader Ed Davey, and advocacy groups like Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice lending their voices to the chorus of denunciations.
In March, there were twenty such fines. According to Tuesday’s police statement, the Metropolitan Police will also issue 30 more.
Further punitive action is possible in the future as an investigation continues into 12 alcohol-fueled social events that flouted the lockdown measures which were put in place by the UK to stop the spread of Covid-19.
Although the Metropolitan Police declined to name the victims, Helen MacNamara (former head of propriety & ethics) was among them.
Johnson confessed to Johnson in January that he had been to a May 2020 garden party. The lockdown regulations of the day made it unlawful for individuals to have more than one contact outside their homes. It also prevented millions from having in-person contact and prohibited visits to patients dying in hospitals.
Also, his office apologised to Queen Elizabeth II of England and her families and asserted “responsibility” for a separate late-night staff party wherein members of his team drank and danced into the night on April 16, 2020, the eve of her husband Prince Philip’s funeral. That this breach in lockdown measures happened at a time of national mourning significantly fueled the public anger and outcry leading to ongoing calls for Johnson’s resignation.
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