Boris Johnson has been reported to the police by multiple Labour MPs over accusations he broke his own government’s coronavirus regulations.
Boris Johnson has been reported to the police by a number of Labour MPs after accusations surfaced that the Prime Minister broke a number of his own government’s lockdown measures at Christmas last year.
The MPs have asked police to investigate reports that the Prime Minister broke rules last year while speaking at a leaving do in November, as well as by allowing a staff Christmas party to go ahead in December while strict lockdown measures were in place.
Neither the Prime Minister nor his press secretary have denied that these events took place, but both have insisted that no rules were broken.
“The COVID rules have been followed at all times,” said one spokesman for the Prime Minister.
According to reports by The Guardian, many Labour politicians remain unconvinced.
“I believe they broke the law,” said Neil Coyle MP, who sent a letter to the Metropolitan Police commissioner asking for an investigation.
“Most of my constituents followed the rules; those that didn’t faced penalties. Johnson is not above the law, despite his bloated self-entitlement.”
Another MP, Barry Gardiner, also called for an investigation into the events, saying that “if these events did take place, it implies there is one rule for the government and another for everyone else”.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has also been asking questions of the Prime Minister regarding the events, casting doubt on claims that no restrictions were contravened.
“The Prime Minister doesn’t deny there was a Downing Street Christmas party last year. He says no rules were broken.” Starmer suggested during Prime Minister’s Questions earlier in the week. “Both of those things can’t be true.”
Meanwhile, a former Chief Crown Prosecutor has called for the upcoming inquiry into the pandemic to examine how compliant British officials were with government lockdown rules.
Former prosecutor Nazir Afzal also called for examination of how the compliance of officials, or lack thereof, affected public adherence to lockdown rules.
In a letter, Afzal’s lawyers requested that the inquiry has “full authority to explore the role of individuals in government, and those connected to the government, in devising the regulations, complying with them themselves and, in turn, ensuring the public’s confidence and compliance with those regulations, as well as the impact of non-compliance”.
Many British officials have been caught flaunting coronavirus rules in the past, sometimes with disastrous political effects.
The Prime Minister’s former Chief Advisor, Dominic Cummings, came under sustained fire after he allegedly broke lockdown. The former Chief Advisor had travelled around 250 miles early on in the pandemic, in order to be near his family in Northern England while he was infected.
While Cummings was subsequently forced out of Downing Street during an apparent power struggle with Johnson’s partner, Carrie, he did manage to survive the restriction scandal intact.
The same cannot be said for former health secretary Matt Hancock, who was forced to resign after he was caught breaching social distancing guidelines with one of his female aides. Hancock had formerly advised against hugging loved ones.
“It’s very difficult if the minister telling people they can’t visit their grandparents or go to sports days is then found snogging his non-executive director in the office,” said one MP regarding the affair. “It’s the sense of unfairness that makes it so bad. People can’t abide a double standard.”
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