Police to fine Boris Johnson and his Chancellor of the Exchequer for Downing Street parties | International

The London Metropolitan Police announced this Tuesday that it has already prepared fifty fines for all workers and members of the Government who broke the rules of confinement during the worst moments of the pandemic and participated in prohibited parties. And finally, Boris Johnson is among those sanctioned. “The Prime Minister and the Minister of Economy [Rishi Sunak] They received this Tuesday the notification from the Metropolitan Police that they will be fined. We do not have any further details, and we will communicate the development of events as we know,” a Downing Street spokesman announced. This is the first time in history that a sitting prime minister has committed a criminal offence, even a minor one. Although neither the Government nor the police have given details, the amount of this type of penalty is around 120 euros.

Scotland Yard has also announced the imposition of a sanction on Carrie Johnson (formerly Symonds), the wife of the prime minister, who organized a surprise birthday party for him during the pandemic in the same room where government ministers meet weekly. It was for that party that Minister Sunak was seen.

Johnson trusted until the last minute that he would get rid of the possible fine, by residing in Downing Street and understanding as work meetings all the moments of recreation, with alcohol and food, which he attended. The imposition of a fine supposes the express recognition that the law was broken in government agencies, even if it is a light sanction that does not result in a criminal record. It remains, in any case, recorded in the police files.

The prime minister has never clarified whether or not he would resign in the event of being fined, and Downing Street has avoided giving any clues on Tuesday. Gone are the worst moments of Johnson, when conservative deputies willing to support a motion of internal censure and force his downfall quickly joined. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and the determined and firm attitude of the Prime Minister in the rearmament of the kyiv government and the promotion of sanctions against Moscow have managed to completely turn the situation around. No one questions Johnson’s continuity within the Conservative Party anymore, and criticism from the Labor opposition was muted, in a rare moment of national unity. In any case, the statements have been harsh on the day that the fines to Johnson and his minister have been known. The leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer, has demanded the resignation of both politicians for lying to the public, and the Labor number two used thick words. “At a time when crime rates are rising and police officers are disappearing from our streets, we are seeing crime reach the heart of Downing Street,” said Angela Rayner. “It is the latest example of a government that is far from reality, guilty of breaking the law and that does not care about enforcing it.”

Although nothing indicates that the internal rebellion in the parliamentary group of the Conservatives could be intensified, it is very possible that some demand that Johnson return to the House of Commons to explain himself. In his statements during the most critical moments of the scandal called partygate, the Prime Minister insisted that the law had not been broken in Downing Street – as his collaborators had assured him – and that anyone responsible for possible infractions would be suitably punished. However, intoxicated by his relevant role in the Ukraine crisis – praised by the press on the right and on the left – Johnson has gone as far in recent days as questioning the rigidity of the confinement rules and describing many of them as “nonsense”. comments made about banned parties in Downing Street.

The relatives of the victims of covid-19 have charged against Johnson and his government. “It is now indisputable that, while families were unable to reunite with their loved ones in their final moments, or attend funerals, those responsible for protecting us in Downing Street were partying and massively breaking the law,” said Matt Fowler, one of the founders of the association Justice for the Families of the Victims of Covid-19.

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