THE two most powerful politicians in the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak, both broke the law while in office.
The two have each received a fixed penalty notice for attending a party held in Downing Street while the rest of the UK was in lockdown.
However, reports spreading online suggested that this may have been an underreporting of the facts, and that the two law-breakers may have been issued a total of six fines between them.
READ MORE: WATCH: 'Fight for your right to party' blares as BBC broadcasts from Downing Street
One media outlet said, in a story widely circulating online, that a No 10 spokesperson had said: “The Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer have today received notification that the Metropolitan Police intend to issue them with six penalty notices.”
The story was widely shared by prominent Twitter accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers, including politicians in government.
However, while it is not out of the question that Johnson and members of his Cabinet may yet receive more fines for breaking the law, as yet they have not been handed that many.
Instead, No 10 confirmed that the reporter had misheard the words “fixed penalty notices” as “six penalty notices”.
As it stands, Johnson has only received the one. He has paid this fine, and issued a “full apology” for breaking the laws he set.
However, that has done little to quell the calls for his resignation from across the political spectrum.
The Prime Minister is reported to have attended as many as six of the events being investigated by police, so he may be issued further fines.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel