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British police said on Tuesday they would issue at least another 30 fines for people who attended gatherings in Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s offices and residence in breach of strict coronavirus lockdown rules.
Police are investigating 12 gatherings at Downing Street and the Cabinet Office after an internal inquiry found Johnson’s staff had enjoyed alcohol-fuelled parties, with the British leader attending a few of the events himself.
Opponents have urged the prime minister to resign, but the Ukraine war has dampened an initial outcry.
There was no immediate comment on the fines from Johnson’s office, which has said it would confirm if he was a recipient.
Last month, an initial 20 fines were issued and police said that the total now stood at more than 50. Further punitive measures are possible.
“We are making every effort to progress this investigation at speed, this includes continuing to assess significant amounts of investigative material from which further referrals may be made,” police said in a statement.
The fines confirm that unprecedented regulations to protect the nation from COVID-19 were broken by officials at the heart of the government that designed them.
PM UNDER PRESSURE
The police have said they will not identify the recipients, but the government’s former head of propriety and ethics, Helen MacNamara, has said she was among them.
The issue had threatened Johnson’s position earlier this year when a number of lawmakers in his own Conservative Party called for him to quit as public trust plummeted.
Revelations of the gatherings, many of which took place when people could not attend funerals or say farewell to loved ones dying in hospital, were first reported in late 2021.
At that time, Johnson said all rules were followed, though he later apologised to parliament for attending one event, which he said he thought was work-related, and then to Queen Elizabeth for another at which staff partied on the eve of her husband’s funeral.
“The police have now completely shredded Johnson’s claims that no laws were broken. He cannot be trusted and cannot continue as prime minister,” said Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrat Party.
