British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is being fined by the police over secret booze-fueled parties thrown while his government forced the rest of the country into strict lockdowns, his office announced Tuesday.
The 57-year-old leader was told Tuesday that he was among 50 being fined over the “Partygate” scandal, including at least one other senior member of his cabinet, finance minister Rishi Sunak, Downing Street confirmed.
“The prime minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have today received notification that the Metropolitan Police intend to issue them with fixed penalty notices,” a government spokesperson said.
“We have no further details, but we will update you again when we do.”
Others facing fines included Johnson’s wife, Carrie Johnson, according to the Telegraph.
Police had investigated 12 alcohol-fueled parties at Downing Street and the Cabinet Office in 2020, some of which the British leader was photographed enjoying.
While the cabinet staff partied, the rest of the country was barred from meeting families — some even kept from saying goodbye to loved ones at funerals — while thousands were fined up to $13,200 for breaking the controversial restrictive rules.
It was not clear how much Johnson and Sunak were fined.
But Tuesday’s announcement immediately sparked fresh calls for their resignations.
“Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak have broken the law and repeatedly lied to the British public,” opposition leader Keir Starmer tweeted.
“They must both resign,” he said, calling their Conservative party “totally unfit to govern.”
Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister of Scotland, also tweeted that “Boris Johnson must resign.”
“He broke the law and repeatedly lied to parliament about it. The basic values of integrity and decency – essential to the proper working of any parliamentary democracy – demand that he go. And he should take his out of touch chancellor with him,” she tweeted.
Other members of Parliament called for a vote of no confidence in Johnson’s leadership.
A support group called COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice insisted there is “simply no way” Johnson can remain in power.
“After everything it’s still unbelievably painful that Boris Johnson was partying & breaking his own lockdown rules, while we were unable to be at loved ones’ sides in their dying moments, or in miserable funerals with only a handful of people. We were following the rules,” the group tweeted.
They said it was “shameless” that Johnson and his colleagues “lied about it, and would have continued to do so if the police hadn’t intervened.”
“If they had any decency they would be gone by tonight,” the group said.
