UK's Boris Johnson, Treasury chief to be fined over lockdown-breaking parties

By Karim El-Bar

LONDON (AA) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, the powerful chancellor of the Exchequer, will be fined over Downing Street parties that flouted COVID-19 pandemic lockdown rules, the BBC reported on Tuesday.

Police announced on Tuesday that at least 30 more fines have been issued as part of an ongoing investigation into lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street and the government. This brings the total number of fines to over 50.

Revelations in recent months of the parties, which took place as officials urged ordinary Britons to avoid gatherings outside their immediate circle, embarrassed the government and led to calls for Johnson to resign. His apologies failed to quell the controversy, which was displaced from headlines only by the war in Ukraine.

“The investigation into allegations of breaches of Covid-19 regulations in Whitehall and Downing Street continues to progress,” said a Metropolitan Police statement. “As of Tuesday 12 April 2022 we have made over 50 referrals for fixed penalty notices to the Acro Criminal Records Office for breaches of Covid-19 regulations who, following the referral, issue the FPNs to the individual.

“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 to Acro.”

The UK Criminal Records Office or Acro is responsible for issuing the fines.