The Tories have since closed that gap, and some members of the opposition renewed their calls for Mr.
Johnson’s personal approval ratings plunged and the opposition Labour Party leapt to a double-digit advantage over the Conservatives in some opinion polls. Reports of alcohol-fueled gatherings during lockdowns drew criticism that the government was guilty of a double standard. Many were deeply angry about the scandal, which consumed the government in the weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Johnson - an almost unheard-of rebuke to a sitting prime minister - it could have a corrosive effect on members of his Conservative Party. They announced their investigation only under intense pressure, after weeks of unflattering reports in the news media The police initially appeared reluctant to investigate allegations that illicit parties had been held in Downing Street.
Johnson for failing to exercise better leadership.
LONDON LOCKDOWN FULL
Downing Street has said it will disclose any penalty the prime minister receives, and once the police investigation is complete, the government has promised to release a full internal report on the scandal by a senior civil servant, Sue Gray.Įven a highly redacted version of the report, released at the end of January, painted a damning picture of the drinking culture in Downing Street, and it condemned Mr. Johnson has insisted he will not resign, he is not out of the woods yet. Even some of his harshest critics acknowledge that the time is not right to force out the government’s leader. Johnson’s political fortunes have rebounded markedly in the past six weeks, largely because the war in Ukraine has eclipsed the outcry over the parties. Still, after facing the looming threat of a no-confidence vote, Mr. Downing Street said it did not know the identities of those who had been fined, and it would not say whether those who had been penalized would keep their jobs. It was not clear how many people had been cited - it is possible that some received more than one notice - and the police did not say how much the accused would have to pay. “We are making every effort to progress this investigation at speed and have completed a number of assessments,” it added. “We will today initially begin to refer 20 fixed penalty notices to be issued for breaches of Covid-19 regulations,” the police force said in a statement, noting that it may impose additional fines. But the prime minister, who has steadfastly denied he violated any rules, was not among those told that they had been fined, according to Downing Street. Johnson, who was present at several of the gatherings under scrutiny. The police had issued a questionnaire to Mr. But the notification that it had issued a first set of fines, known as fixed penalty notices, was confirmation that it had found that the social gatherings at the prime minister’s office violated the law. The Metropolitan Police Service did not identify who had been fined, prompting an immediate guessing game in British political circles. LONDON - Reviving a politically dangerous scandal for Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the London police on Tuesday levied 20 fines on people accused of breaching Covid lockdown restrictions by attending social gatherings at 10 Downing Street.
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