Boris Johnson apologises, rejects calls to resign amid 'partygate' fine
The Hindu
UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak has offered an “unreserved apology” and paid the fine imposed on him by Scotland Yard for breaching COVID lockdown rules in June 2020
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has refused to resign after being fined for breaking his government's pandemic lockdown rules, saying he would instead redouble efforts to strengthen the economy and combat Russian aggression in Ukraine.
UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak has offered an “unreserved apology” and paid the fine imposed on him by Scotland Yard for breaching COVID lockdown rules in June 2020, when he attended a birthday party at Downing Street for his boss – PM Johnson.
London police fined Mr Johnson and other people Tuesday for attending a birthday party thrown for the prime minister at his Downing Street offices on June 19, 2020. The penalty made Mr Johnson the first British Prime Minister ever found to have broken the law while in office.
Gatherings of more than two people were banned in Britain at the time of the birthday party to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
“I understand the anger that many will feel that I, myself, fell short when it came to observing the very rules which the government I lead had introduced to protect the public, and I accept in all sincerity that people had the right to expect better,” Mr Johnson said late Tuesday. “And now I feel an even greater sense of obligation to deliver on the priorities of the British people.”
The fine followed a police investigation and months of questions about lockdown-breaking parties at government offices, which Mr Johnson had tried to bat away by saying there were no parties and that he believed no rules were broken.
Opposition lawmakers demanded Mr Johnson’s resignation, arguing the fines given to him and Treasury chief Rishi Sunak were evidence of “criminality” at the heart of government. The opposition argued that the Downing Street gathering demonstrated that Mr Johnson and his supporters believe the rules don’t apply to them.
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