UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has become the first sitting British leader to be fined for breaking the law.
After breaching COVID protocol to throw a house party during lockdown, British PM Boris Johnson has been fined by authorities.
This brings forth the compelling argument, can politicians, and the public servants that make up the law, get away with breaking the law? That is what many deem to be the burning issue when it comes to British PM Boris Johnson breaking his own laws during the lockdown.
That little birthday bash at 10 Downing, aka Partygate, has seen Johnson become the first PM in Britain to be fined for breaking the law while in office. The gathering was allegedly a “surprise party” thrown for the PM, which took place in the Cabinet Room. Up to 30 people attended, including The PM’s wife Carrie Johnson, MP Rishi Sunak, Downing Street staff, and the interior designer Lulu Lytle – who was not a member of No 10 staff – was present. This means ironically, he was very much in breach, of the lockdown rules the PM himself enacted.
PM Boris Johnson, along with politician Rishi Sunak and the PM’s wife Carrie has since paid fines.
The PM has vowed to fight on as prime minister in defiance of furious calls for him to quit “I have paid the fine and want to offer a full apology,” Johnson said and has rejected calls to quit, despite the situation escalating, as the police are still investigating up to six other gatherings where he is said to have been present.
Further investigation of the MP, may make his position hang even more in the balance, and may prompt the Tory members of parliament to call for a change of leader.
► VIDEO: "I fell short" – British PM Boris Johnson apologises and pays fine for breaching Covid-19 lockdown rules https://t.co/Sk19yUBGs4 pic.twitter.com/6yJOw52oZ6
— Irish Times Video (@irishtimesvideo) April 13, 2022
“I understand the anger 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,” he continued. “I accept in all sincerity that people had the right to expect better.”
With some luck, this may lead to the first step in addressing the need for a stronger national and international anti-corruption body, that would see any wrongdoings of anyone in the public sector being held accountable, making it clear from the outset what is and isn’t acceptable when it comes to the handling of government corruption at any level.
