Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Fine issued to U.K. prime minister
Johnson’s attendance of ’20 party said to violate virus rules
LONDON — Police fined British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday for attending a party in Downing Street that broke coronavirus laws made in the very same building.
Johnson said Tuesday night that he had paid the fine, though he did not say how much it was.
He insisted that he would continue in his job despite calls for his resignation, including from the opposition Labor leader.
He added, “I once again offer a full apology.”
The announcement earlier Tuesday by London’s Metropolitan Police made Johnson the first holder of his office in living memory to be found in breach of the law, and it provoked anger from Britons who obeyed strict coronavirus rules that sometimes even forbade contact with dying relatives.
It also prompted opposition politicians to accuse Johnson of lying to Parliament by denying that breaches of coronavirus rules occurred in Downing Street or other government buildings.
The announcement came after several weeks in which Johnson stabilized his leadership through support for Ukraine’s resistance against Russian military aggression, culminating in his surprise weekend visit to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.
The media’s focus on the war has defused the air of crisis around Downing Street and prompted several internal critics who had made formal demands for a vote of no-confidence in Johnson to retract them.
One of those, Douglas Ross, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, said Tuesday that, with conflict raging in Ukraine, “it wouldn’t be right to remove the prime minister at this time.”
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said it would issue fines for at least 50 breaches of the law as part of its inquiry into the scandal that earlier this year threatened to sweep Johnson from power after reports emerged of politicians and officials gathering and drinking in Downing Street and other government buildings despite coronavirus rules.
The police did not name any of those to be fined, but the prime minister’s office later said that Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak had both been notified that they had broken the law.
Sunak said Tuesday night that he had also paid his fine and apologized.
Johnson’s fine was for attending a party on his birthday between 2 and 3 p.m. on June 19, 2020, in the Cabinet Room at No. 10 Downing St., said a later statement from his office.
His wife, Carrie Johnson, has also been told that she will be fined, her spokesperson said in a statement.
On Tuesday, the leader of the opposition Labor Party, Keir Starmer, was among those demanding Johnson’s resignation as critics have asked for Parliament, which is on Easter recess, to be recalled.
More importantly, however, was the muted reaction of lawmakers in the governing Conservative Party, the only group that could force a no-confidence motion for Johnson. Fifty-four of them would have to demand one.
While that prospect seemed imminent earlier this year when the crisis erupted, the focus on the war in Ukraine has made that less likely.
Because lawmakers are on recess this week, it will be harder for Johnson’s internal critics to organize against him.
Some of Johnson’s allies have argued in the past that receiving a fixed penalty notice is more akin to a speeding ticket than a successful prosecution.
A group of loyal lawmakers have rallied around the prime minister in recent months.