After the Guardian revealed that they were handing out fixed penalty notices to those who attended a departure for Boris Johnson’s aide’s ministerial office in June 2020, sources said those who took part in the dawn of No. 10 on April 16, 2021 were also warned they would receive fines. The incident caused a stir due to the opposition between him and the strict observance of the rules of social distancing by the Queen as she sits alone at the funeral of her 73-year-old husband. Meanwhile, Downing Street staff are said to be so drunk that they broke the crib used by the prime minister’s son, Wilf, in Garden No. 10, while a staff member was sent to the local supermarket to pack a suitcase of wine. and another played as a DJ. Two parties were held that night – one to mark the departure of Johnson’s director of communications, James Slack, and another for one of Johnson’s personal photographers. At the time, England was in the second step of a strict roadmap outside of lockdown, meaning that any indoor mixing was prohibited. Many of those who participated in No. 10 on April 16 were sent questionnaires by the Met asking them to provide a reasonable excuse for their presence. But in an email, Operation Hillman’s team investigating the sequence of events in the lockdown said some of them had been “assessed as having good reason to believe that you were violating the rules”. The warning, received by some late last week, added: “In light of this, you should be notified of the issuance of a fixed penalty notice (FPN), which offers you the opportunity to absolve yourself of any responsibility for a conviction for the offense. with payment of a fixed fine. “ Met said further correspondence confirming the details of the fine would be sent by ACRO – the criminal records office. Downing Street declined to comment. No. 10 apologized to the queen in January after party details were reported. The apparent confirmation that Covid’s laws were violated at No. 10 will lead to further questions about whether Johnson misled parliament about the twelve parties under investigation. He said to Keir Starmer during the Prime Minister’s questions on December 1, 2021: “What I can say to the right honorable and learned gentleman is that all the instructions were fully followed in No. 10”. Scotland Yard said it would not confirm for which events fines were imposed or the identity of anyone who received a fixed penalty notice. A Met spokesman told the Guardian: “Contrary to other breaches of Covid regulations, the Hillman investigation is ongoing and we are not providing further information at this time. “In conclusion, we will consider what information can be made public as we continue to work at the NPCC [National Police Chiefs’ Council] principle of non-disclosure of information that would lead to the identification of any individual. “ Daisy Cooper, the Liberal Democrats’ deputy leader, said the revelation that fines were to be imposed for the April 16, 2021 event “confirms what the British public has known for a long time” – that Johnson was a “liar and must resign”. She told the Guardian: “The emotional images of the queen sitting alone at her husband’s funeral were a hallmark of the British spirit during the pandemic. “Boris Johnson’s Downing Street has not shown a single ounce of respect for this country. There can be no more cover-ups and no more lies. “For the good of the country and for all those who lost loved ones during the pandemic, he must leave.” It is believed that the fines imposed on those who attended the party on April 16, 2021 were among those of the initial installment of 20 announced by the Met on Tuesday. The only two No. 10 people committed to determining whether they will be fined are Johnson and Cabinet Secretary Simon Keys, who was to be ousted from leading the Whitehall partygate’s internal investigation after it was discovered that his team had gather in December 2020. A Labor party spokesman on Sunday demanded that those fined be named. Jonathan Reynolds, the shadow business secretary, told Sky News that anyone fined – including the prime minister’s wife, Carrie Johnson – should be identified. “I think anyone who has been to Downing Street should be named if they have been involved. Because there has been so much dishonesty, so much confusion from the people at the top of Downing Street, from the prime minister and his immediate downfall, I think people just want to know what really happened. “Let us have a little transparency, let us have a little honesty.”
