Boris Johnson has been referred to police again for allegedly breaking covid rules
The Metropolitan Police in London also confirmed that they had “received information” from the Cabinet Office on May 19 about breaches of health regulations during the same period in Downing Street.
British media reported that the Cabinet Office handed over Johnson’s official diary entries showing visits by friends to the estate during the pandemic at a time when there were strict bans on visits between non-family members.
“Information has come to light during the process of preparing evidence for submission to the Covid inquiry,” a Cabinet spokesman said in a statement on Wednesday. “In accordance with the obligations of the civil service code, this material has been transmitted to the competent authorities and it is now their business.”
The new claims come amid an investigation into ‘Partygate’, the name of the scandal which involved watered down government rallies inside the Prime Minister’s Downing Street office and residence at a time of lockdowns and distancing social were strictly enforced. The scandal was one of many that contributed to Johnson’s collapse as Britain’s leader and led to his resignation last July after three calamitous years in office.
Johnson’s team told The Times of London that the allegations were “clearly” a “politically motivated attempt to fabricate something out of thin air”. The new allegations could delay the verdict of the inquiry into whether Johnson knowingly misled parliament, which lawmakers have been investigating for nearly a year. The verdict is expected next month.
While questioned by MPs during the Commons inquiry in March, Johnson said “hand on heart” that he had not lied to Parliament about the government’s unlawful gatherings, defending the meetings as “essential for professional purposes”. If Johnson is found to have lied, he could face suspension and perjury charges.
While Johnson lost his party’s trust and resigned, he remains an MP. Although his political future is currently uncertain, he has signaled that he may one day try to return as British leader.
Johnson is renowned for having a loose relationship with the truth and often made headlines at home and abroad during his tenure. When the Partygate scandal first came to light, the allegations prompted many Britons to angrily recall the heartbreaking sacrifices they had made during the pandemic as they adhered to the same rules government officials had described and then challenged.
Britain has been ravaged by the global health crisis, with at least 220,000 lives lost to coronavirus. Johnson and his government have faced widespread criticism over their handling of the pandemic, which a public inquiry has found was “one of the UK’s greatest public health failures ever”.
When Johnson was fined for his role in Partygate in April 2021, he became the first sitting prime minister in Britain’s history to be found guilty of breaking the law.
Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, a group of people who have lost loved ones to the virus, slammed Johnson on social media following allegations of another rule violation.
“His legacy is a lie, a complete disregard for the ordinary people he was meant to protect, and most importantly preside over the deaths of nearly 200,000 people,” the group said. writing on Twitter on Tuesday.
Karla Adam and William Booth contributed to this report.
washingtonpost
