Boris Johnson has been fined for a party which happened for his birthday during the first coronavirus lockdown in June 2020, it has been confirmed. A No.10 spokesman said the Met Police had informed the Prime Minister of the reason he is receiving a fine.
The Prime Minister, his wife Carrie Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak are all among the Downing Street figures are to receive fines as part of the Metropolitan Police's investigation into lockdown parties in the heart of government. See more on that here. More fines are still expected as the police investigation continues.
A No 10 spokesman: “The Met Police have now explained that the FPN issued to the PM will be in relation to the following incident: 'On 19th June 2020 at the Cabinet Room 10 Downing Street between 1400 and 1500 you participated in a gathering of two or more people indoors in the Cabinet Room at 10 Downing Street'."
What happened on June 19, 2020?
On June 19, 2020, during the first lockdown, the Prime Minister carried out a number of engagements on his birthday. He attended an event at a school in Hertfordshire in the morning where the children sang him Happy Birthday.
The Times reported the following day that after his visit to the school, he had "celebrated his 56th birthday with a small gathering in the cabinet room". It said: "Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, and a group of aides sang him Happy Birthday before they tucked into a Union Jack cake. The celebrations provided a brief respite after another gruelling week."
Just over 18 months on later, on January 25 this year, those same facts became a national scandal. ITV News reported that the party took place in the Cabinet Room and that it had had been arranged as a surprise for Mr Johnson by his then fiancee, Carrie Symonds.
ITV reported that up to 30 people were in the room, sang Happy Birthday and were served cake in an gathering that included Downing Street staff and the interior designer Lulu Lytle. ITV reported that it took place just after 2pm.
In his statement, Boris Johnson gave his version of events. He said: "In the spirit of openness and humility I want to be completely clear about what happened on that date. My day began shortly after 7am and I chaired eight meetings in Number 10 including Cabinet deciding Covid strategy. I visited a school in Hemel Hempstead which took me out of Downing Street for over four hours.
"Amongst all these engagements, on a day that happened to be my birthday, there was a brief gathering in the Cabinet room shortly after 2pm lasting for less than 10 minutes during which people I work with kindly passed on their good wishes.
"In all frankness, at that time, it did not occur to me that this might have been a breach of the rules. But, of course the police have found otherwise and I fully respect the outcome of this investigation."
What were the rules at the time?
At the time gatherings of more than two people inside were banned by law in all parts of the UK with the exception of gatherings that "were reasonably necessary" for work purposes.
Mr Johnson had repeatedly denied that rules were broken. The PM was challenged in December by the Mirror at a No10 press conference on whether he would extend an inquiry to cover “any other gatherings, events, parties - use the term that you choose”.
He replied: “All the evidence I can see is that people in this building have stayed within the rules. If that turns out not to be the case, and people wish to bring allegations to my attention or to the police or whoever, then of course there will be proper sanction"
