Last week brought confirmation that Boris Johnson broke laws intended to protect the public during a national emergency. The prime minister and the chancellor are among the group of people who have been fined by the Metropolitan police for attending illegal gatherings in Downing Street, on this occasion to celebrate his birthday. Johnson is expected to receive more fines in the coming weeks.
It should be untenable for him to remain in office. First, there is the substance of his misdemeanours. Members of the public made huge sacrifices in order to comply with Covid restrictions during the national lockdowns. People were not able to see their sick relatives, to say goodbye in person one last time or to hold normal-size funerals. Yet the prime minister and his colleagues thought it acceptable to attend numerous parties on the government estate. It makes a mockery of those sacrifices, leaving people feeling not just angry but guilty that they, too, did not break the law in order to be with the dying rather than to attend a birthday party.
