As a sign of continuing nervousness in the government that the prime minister’s post could be threatened when lawmakers return to Westminster from vacation next week, a Downing Street source acknowledged that the apparent calm was like “calm before a possible storm”. Lord Justice’s Justice Minister David Wolfson resigned Wednesday after reports that Johnson and Risi Sunak had been sentenced to life in prison for breaking Covid’s own birthday party lawsuits. 10. Wolfson said he was resigning not only because of the “own behavior” of the prime minister but also because of “the official response to what happened”. He said the behavior was in stark contrast to many in society who “complied with the rules at great personal cost and others were fined or prosecuted for similar, and sometimes obviously more trivial, offenses.” Johnson tried to rally the top ministers to his side by holding a virtual cabinet on Wednesday afternoon. The Welsh secretary, Simon Hart, said that Johnson will not resign even if he is fined several times. “I do not necessarily see the difference between one or two,” he told Times Radio. By Wednesday afternoon, before Wolfson’s resignation, the momentum seemed to have stopped for lawmakers preparing to oust Johnson – just two Tory lawmakers added their voices to calls for the resignation of the prime minister, Amber Valley MP Nigel Mills and Craig Whittaker, MP Calder. Valley. Mills said he would write a letter of no confidence to the chairman of the 1922 Commission: “I think it’s just a weak position for a prime minister in power to be fined and accepted and paid for violating the laws he introduced.” he said. In the Halifax Courier, Whittaker called on the prime minister to step down and “do the right thing” – although he said he would not write a letter of censure, predicting that Johnson would win any votes. On social media, a majority of lawmakers rallied in support of Johnson. But a former No. 10 adviser predicted that the fines could prove “fatal” for the prime minister’s career. “Conservatives, if they support anything, are defending the rule of law and maintaining order,” they said. “If they can not follow their own rules and show humility before justice, it is impossible for them to keep this cloak.” Key experts said they believed Johnson was likely to receive at least three fines for events that have not yet been fully investigated by police. Events not yet considered by the Metropolitan Police, which Johnson attended, include the May 2020 summer party, a November rally in Johnson’s apartment with his wife on the day of Dominic Cummings’ departure, and a departure for a senior aide. at No. 10 a day later. Sources said no attendees had yet been fined for these events. Some Tories have expressed concern that Johnson’s strategy was to downplay the importance of the fact that he was fined – a brief birthday party in the cabinet. “It was a terrible communication blunder for the MPs who were informed that the event lasted only 10 minutes and that the prime minister was unjustly abused,” said a Tories source. Lord Frost, the former cabinet minister, also expressed concern that further damaging revelations were coming. “I do not think it is possible to just say, ‘This was then, this is now, let’s move on, the world is different,’ as the government is trying to do this morning,” he told LBC. “We do not yet know what other penalties may be imposed and to whom.” Some 10 sources said the prime minister had attended a birthday party in the cabinet in June 2020 for less than 10 minutes, eating a salad from a plastic bowl and refusing any alcohol or party food. However, those who attended the prime minister’s birthday party said they frowned at the description of the rally, with one describing it as a “party atmosphere” with a song attended by his wife, Carrie Johnson, and Lulu’s interior designer. Lightl. . Another said he believed the photos taken at the event by Johnson’s personal photographer – which have been revealed in Sue Gray’s official investigation into lockdown parties – would leave no doubt that it was a violation of the rules. A police source said that an assessment by Met detectives that the prime minister had broken the rules more than once would increase future fines. The level of the fine went up every time Johnson was found to have broken the rules he had introduced or admitted to breaking them. The source added that the defense made by Johnson and his supporters, that people did not realize they were having a party, was “strange” because the set of rules was written to stop any gathering of people indoors: “The law never spoke for a party. he was talking about rallies. It does not have to be music and dance – you could not gather indoors. “The whole reason was to stop the spread of the disease. The contempt for public health comes as a surprise. “Why do you not know that you are breaking the rules?” Although three lawmakers who had previously called for Johnson to leave said the war in Ukraine meant they did not think it was the right time for a contest, others stood by in their letters of censure on Thursday, including Gary Street, Caroline Knox and Anthony Mann. . and Tobias Ellwood. Another lawmaker said they were deeply concerned about further revelations and a “drip” in the run-up to the local election and Gray’s final report. “Each of them will come like a hammer to the nail of the Tories coffin and what the prime minister is doing is involving all the deputies in it. We are on a long, slow death march. “ Chancellor Rishi Sunak also apologized for violating the rules after receiving a fixed penalty notice for participating in the rally, following a seven-hour debate in which he allegedly considered his position. Sunak’s allies said Wednesday they believed it was a missed opportunity for the chancellor not to step down on Tuesday after receiving a stipulated sentence. “My view is that he should have left months ago and kept his integrity intact, but now he is at the mercy of a possible dismissal this summer,” said one.
title: “Boris Johnson Could Get Three More Fines Over Partygate Say Insiders Boris Johnson " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-18” author: “Abigail Daley”
As a sign of continuing nervousness in the government that the prime minister’s post could be threatened when lawmakers return to Westminster from vacation next week, a Downing Street source acknowledged that the apparent calm was like “calm before a possible storm”. Lord Justice’s Justice Minister David Wolfson resigned Wednesday after reports that Johnson and Risi Sunak had been sentenced to life in prison for breaking Covid’s own birthday party lawsuits. 10. Wolfson said he was resigning not only because of the “own behavior” of the prime minister but also because of “the official response to what happened”. He said the behavior was in stark contrast to many in society who “complied with the rules at great personal cost and others were fined or prosecuted for similar, and sometimes obviously more trivial, offenses.” Johnson tried to rally the top ministers to his side by holding a virtual cabinet on Wednesday afternoon. The Welsh secretary, Simon Hart, said that Johnson will not resign even if he is fined several times. “I do not necessarily see the difference between one or two,” he told Times Radio. By Wednesday afternoon, before Wolfson’s resignation, the momentum seemed to have stopped for lawmakers preparing to oust Johnson – just two Tory lawmakers added their voices to calls for the resignation of the prime minister, Amber Valley MP Nigel Mills and Craig Whittaker, MP Calder. Valley. Mills said he would write a letter of no confidence to the chairman of the 1922 Commission: “I think it’s just a weak position for a prime minister in power to be fined and accepted and paid for violating the laws he introduced.” he said. In the Halifax Courier, Whittaker called on the prime minister to step down and “do the right thing” – although he said he would not write a letter of censure, predicting that Johnson would win any votes. On social media, a majority of lawmakers rallied in support of Johnson. But a former No. 10 adviser predicted that the fines could prove “fatal” for the prime minister’s career. “Conservatives, if they support anything, are defending the rule of law and maintaining order,” they said. “If they can not follow their own rules and show humility before justice, it is impossible for them to keep this cloak.” Key experts said they believed Johnson was likely to receive at least three fines for events that have not yet been fully investigated by police. Events not yet considered by the Metropolitan Police, which Johnson attended, include the May 2020 summer party, a November rally in Johnson’s apartment with his wife on the day of Dominic Cummings’ departure, and a departure for a senior aide. at No. 10 a day later. Sources said no attendees had yet been fined for these events. Some Tories have expressed concern that Johnson’s strategy was to downplay the importance of the fact that he was fined – a brief birthday party in the cabinet. “It was a terrible communication blunder for the MPs who were informed that the event lasted only 10 minutes and that the prime minister was unjustly abused,” said a Tories source. Lord Frost, the former cabinet minister, also expressed concern that further damaging revelations were coming. “I do not think it is possible to just say, ‘This was then, this is now, let’s move on, the world is different,’ as the government is trying to do this morning,” he told LBC. “We do not yet know what other penalties may be imposed and to whom.” Some 10 sources said the prime minister had attended a birthday party in the cabinet in June 2020 for less than 10 minutes, eating a salad from a plastic bowl and refusing any alcohol or party food. However, those who attended the prime minister’s birthday party said they frowned at the description of the rally, with one describing it as a “party atmosphere” with a song attended by his wife, Carrie Johnson, and Lulu’s interior designer. Lightl. . Another said he believed the photos taken at the event by Johnson’s personal photographer – which have been revealed in Sue Gray’s official investigation into lockdown parties – would leave no doubt that it was a violation of the rules. A police source said that an assessment by Met detectives that the prime minister had broken the rules more than once would increase future fines. The level of the fine went up every time Johnson was found to have broken the rules he had introduced or admitted to breaking them. The source added that the defense made by Johnson and his supporters, that people did not realize they were having a party, was “strange” because the set of rules was written to stop any gathering of people indoors: “The law never spoke for a party. he was talking about rallies. It does not have to be music and dance – you could not gather indoors. “The whole reason was to stop the spread of the disease. The contempt for public health comes as a surprise. “Why do you not know that you are breaking the rules?” Although three lawmakers who had previously called for Johnson to leave said the war in Ukraine meant they did not think it was the right time for a contest, others stood by in their letters of censure on Thursday, including Gary Street, Caroline Knox and Anthony Mann. . and Tobias Ellwood. Another lawmaker said they were deeply concerned about further revelations and a “drip” in the run-up to the local election and Gray’s final report. “Each of them will come like a hammer to the nail of the Tories coffin and what the prime minister is doing is involving all the deputies in it. We are on a long, slow death march. “ Chancellor Rishi Sunak also apologized for violating the rules after receiving a fixed penalty notice for participating in the rally, following a seven-hour debate in which he allegedly considered his position. Sunak’s allies said Wednesday they believed it was a missed opportunity for the chancellor not to step down on Tuesday after receiving a stipulated sentence. “My view is that he should have left months ago and kept his integrity intact, but now he is at the mercy of a possible dismissal this summer,” said one.