A Manchester MP who lost three relatives to coronavirus says Boris Johnson must consider taking responsibility as the first 'Partygate' fines are issued.
Afzal Khan lost his mother, his mother-in-law and his father-in-law to Covid in a heartbreaking triple tragedy. But despite families like his following strict rules as they mourned loved ones, a string of alleged lockdown-busting parties took place at 10 Downing Street.
Today (March 29), the Metropolitan Police has announced that 20 fines are set to be issued. With more penalties potentially set to follow as police continue their investigations, Mr Khan believes Boris Johnson must now consider his own responsibilities as Prime Minister.
He told the Manchester Evening News : "I must say, from all that I have seen and heard, I'm not surprised that people have been issued with fines. But the key point ultimately is whether or not the Prime Minister accepts responsibility, and I think there's also more to come yet.
"It's important that police fully investigate and those that have broken the law should be fined. Then there will be a wider question for the Prime Minister himself for how he wants to take responsibility, both as head [of government] and if he himself has personally broken the law."
After the first stories over alleged lockdown breaches at Number 10 were revealed last autumn, Boris Johnson denied rules had been broken. He told the Commons on December 1 that 'all guidance was followed completely' at 10 Downing Street, as he began facing questions over the scandal.
Under the Ministerial Code, ministers who knowingly mislead Parliament are expected to offer their resignation, although the code is not set in law. Mr Khan added: "[Mr Johnson] fundamentally said nothing wrong was done, he denied everything, so it's a lie isn't it.
"More and more information is pointing to the opposite direction of what he had said." Asked whether he thinks Mr Johnson should step down, Mr Khan said: "That is the precedent in the past - if any minister has misled Parliament then the answer is their resignation. That's where the history is."
Mr Khan lost his 85-year-old mum Akhtar Nissa Begum in the early days of the pandemic, hours after she was taken into the care of North Manchester General Hospital back in March 2020. His two in-laws died within days of each other later in the pandemic.
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He has since been a leading voice among calls for a full inquiry into the government's handling of the pandemic. With fines now being issued over 'Partygate', Mr Khan feels the government has 'no reason not to get on with it immediately'.
The Metropolitan Police said today that investigators will begin to refer the first 20 fixed penalty notices to the ACRO Criminal Records Office, which would be responsible for issuing the fines. It is expected that further fines could be issued as officers continue to go through the evidence gathered.
On a visit to Middleton in February, Mr Johnson told the M.E.N. he was 'sorry for any misjudgements' in the wake of 'Partygate'. He added: "I remember the heroism of Greater Manchester - the length of time everybody spent in lockdown - and I have lots of admiration for what people did. And it was vital - it helped us to keep the disease under control.
"As for the Sue Gray report and the current process, I can't go beyond anything that I've said for reasons I'm sure you'll understand. But I'm obviously sorry for any misjudgements I may have made or sorry if anything went wrong on my watch."
