- Police will fine U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Finance Minister Rishi Sunak for breaking COVID-19 lockdown rules, reports CNBC.
- The announcement means Johnson will become the first sitting prime minister in living memory to have been found breaking the law.
- Johnson and Sunak “have today received notification that the Metropolitan Police intend to issue them with fixed penalty notices,” a spokesperson at Downing Street said. “We have no further details, but we will update you again when we do,” they added.
- It was later confirmed that the police issued the fixed penalty notice concerning a gathering of two or more people held at 10 Downing Street on June 19, 2020, Johnson’s birthday.
- “You can’t be a lawmaker and a law-breaker,” Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford said via Twitter. “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.”
- Carrie Johnson, the prime minister’s wife, has also been notified that she is to receive a fine for Covid lockdown breaches, her spokesperson said, according to Sky News.
- Despite sustained public anger, Johnson has resisted calls to resign over the “partygate” scandal.
- Johnson’s leadership has been under immense pressure following a series of allegations that government staff, including Johnson at times, had attended multiple parties and gatherings at a time of strict public health measures to curb the spread of Covid.
- Sunak has come under pressure in recent weeks and faced questions over his past U.S. residency and his wife’s tax affairs.
