The Prime Minister told television to have a fine in violation of the anti-COVID rules and presented “complete apologies”.
Le Monde and AFP
Excuses, but no resignation. Boris Johnson was determined, Tuesday, April 12, to stay in power, after receiving a fine for a birthday party in anti-covid rules – an unprecedented penalty for a British prime minister in office. A time on a seat ejection in January because of this crisis known as “PartyGate”, the Conservative leader seems, now, protected by the war in Ukraine who cools the ardor within his majority of those who, Little, said they were ready to dislodge it.
The punishment, announced Tuesday by Downing Street, constitutes, nevertheless, a severe setback for Boris Johnson who has not only violated the law, but had also taken the risk of ensuring nothing illegal to Parliament, During starting pots, sun-aperitifs and other feasts held during confines and revealed in recent months by the press. He told television to have fulfilled this fine and introduced “complete excuses” for this surprise anniversary who lasted, according to him, “less than ten minutes”, on June 19, 2020, in the Hall of the Council. Ministers, for its 56 years. “I have to say frankly that he did not seem to me, at the time, that it could violate the rules,” he arraid.
If he assured “understanding anger”, he swept the calls for resignation, launched by the Chief of Labor, Keir Starmer, and the Scottish Independent Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon. “I want to continue and fulfill the mandate that is mine,” he explained, quoting the economy and the war in Ukraine.
His Minister of Finance, Rishi Sunak, and his wife, Carrie Johnson, also received fines for offenses committed in the context of holidays organized in the circles of power in 2020 and 2021. At the time, the British were asked to drastically reduce their social interactions to combat the propagation of CIVID-19. Carrie Johnson, sanctioned for the same event as her husband, “apologizes without reserve”, even if she thought “act in respect of the rules”, his spokesman said.
No Confidence Vote
Conscious of popular anger, several Conservative MPs were openly pronounced a few months ago for the departure of Boris Johnson, but the rebels were not numerous to trigger a vote of distrust. Today, Boris Johnson enjoys a favorable context, the international crisis around Ukraine dissuading parliamentarians from his conservative camp to try to oust.
The Conservative deputy Roger Gale said he was “not ready to give Vladimir Putin the satisfaction of thinking that we are about to overthrow the UK’s Prime Minister and destabilize the coalition against Putin “. The chief of the Scottish Conservative Party, Douglas Ross, who had a time requested the resignation of Boris Johnson, also finally opposed this departure who “would destabilize the United Kingdom when we need to be united against the aggression Russian “.
The parliamentary holidays avoid Boris Johnson the unfortunate questions of the opposition – at least until the resumption of the debates, Tuesday. Finally, Rishi Sunak, which was a possible successor of Boris Johnson, is himself sanctioned and weakened by revelations on his tax situation and that of his wife.
More than 50 fines in this case
But the Prime Minister is weakened and saw his popularity eroded, he had arrived triumphantly in power in July 2019. A majority of British (57%) believes that he should resign, according to a Yugov survey, made. with 2,464 British after the announcement of the fine.
An internal pre-report had already pinned “errors of leadership and judgment” in this case, showing the finger of unjustified gatherings and the consumption of alcohol at work. In total, the police issued more than 50 fines for anti-Covid rules in this case, without specifying the names of the recipients.
For the association of families bereaved by the pandemic of Covid-19, Bereaved Families for Justice, there is no “simply average only the Prime Minister or Chancellor [Rishi Sunak] can continue [to practice]” .