A Conservative peer has quit as justice minister over the breaches of Covid rules in Downing Street It comes after Boris Johnson was fined on Tuesday for attending a lockdown party.
Lord David Wolfson said in a letter the “repeated rule-breaking, and breaches of the criminal law” at No 10 had caused him to submit his resignation as justice minister.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, the Conservative peer said: “Justice may often be a matter of courts and procedure, but the rule of law is something else – a constitutional principle which, at its root, means that everyone in a state, and indeed the state itself, is subject to the law.
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“I regret that recent disclosures lead to the inevitable conclusion that there was repeated rule-breaking, and breaches of the criminal law, in Downing Street. I have – again, with considerable regret – come to the conclusion that the scale, context and nature of those breaches mean that it would be inconsistent with the rule of law for that conduct to pass with constitutional impunity, especially when many in society complied with the rules at great personal cost, and others were fined or prosecuted for similar, and sometimes apparently more trivial, offences.
“It is not just a question of what happened in Downing Street, or your own conduct. It is also, and perhaps more so, the official response to what took place. As we obviously do not share that view of these matters, I must ask you to accept my resignation.”
It comes after Mr Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak paid fines relating to a birthday party held for the Prime Minister in the Cabinet room in No 10 in June 2020.
Neither politician has indicated they would consider resigning over the finding by the Metropolitan Police, instead saying they wanted to get on with the job.
It comes as Welsh Secretary Simon Hart indicated Mr Johnson would not resign even if he was fined multiple times in the Metropolitan Police’s Operation Hillman probe.
On Tuesday, Mr Johnson did not rule out the prospect he could be fined again for further events.
He is reported to have attended six of the 12 under investigation.
Mr Hart told Times Radio: “I don’t necessarily see the difference between one or two (fines), for example, the principle is the same.”
More than 50 fines have been referred to the Acro Criminal Records Office since the Met’s inquiry started.
Speaking to broadcasters at his country residence, Chequers, on Tuesday, Mr Johnson said it “did not occur” to him at the time that the party for which he was fined might be breaching Covid rules.
Mr Sunak offered an “unreserved apology”, saying he understood that “for figures in public office, the rules must be applied stringently in order to maintain public confidence”.
A spokesperson for Mrs Johnson said: “Whilst she believed that she was acting in accordance with the rules at the time, Mrs Johnson accepts the Metropolitan Police’s findings and apologises unreservedly.”
