Jacob Rees-Mogg has dismissed news that the number of Partygate fines has exceeded 100 as a "non-story" in a TV clash.
The top Tory claimed the public was no longer interested in lockdown-flouting in Downing Street and Whitehall during the pandemic after the Metropolitan Police announced a further 50 fixed penalty notices had been issued.
Scotland Yard confirmed on Thursday that the total of penalties dished out had doubled since its last update in April, with the latest fines understood to relate to a No10 Christmas party in December 2020.
The extraordinary tally sparked claims Downing Street is now the most-fined address in the country.
Boris Johnson - who has already been fined over his own birthday bash along with Chancellor Rishi Sunak - did not receive a penalty as he did not attend this event.
Mr Rees-Mogg was challenged over whether the latest fines reflect well on the Government in an interview on BBC Breakfast.
He replied: “I’m afraid I think this is a non-story. The BBC has absolutely loved it, but what is important is we get on with the business of government.”
Present Naga Munchetty asked whether he'd heard how upset people were about rule-breaking in Downing Street when they had obeyed the law.
He replied: “I think people were upset. I think this was an important story in February when it first became known, and that there was great concern and there was a feeling of people who were bereaved particularly about it.
“I also think we need to look in the inquiry at the rules to see if they were proportionate.”
He said the rules were "too restrictive" and it was a mistake to prevent people from seeing their dying relatives.
The presenter pressed him on whether he thought it was a non-story because the rules the Government set were too strict.
Mr Rees-Mogg said: “What I’m saying is the fines are a consequence of things we knew in February and it was a story in February and people now know about it and have made their judgment on it and there are other things going on that are more important.”
The PM has repeatedly insisted he won't resign despite being fined by the police for breaking the law.
No10 is braced for further penalties as Mr Johnson is believed to have attended six of the 12 gatherings being investigate by Scotland Yard.
As well as the ongoing Met Police probe, Mr Johnson will also have to survive a potentially excoriating report from senior civil servant Sue Gray, who put her Partygate investigation on hold while the police investigate.
The PM is also facing a third inquiry by the Privileges Committee into whether he misled Parliament with his repeated assurances that Covid rules were followed in No 10.
