the times | Wednesday April 13 2022 2GM 5News
war in Ukraine and the cost-of-living crisis but the party scandal is unlikely to go away as police inquiries continueQ&A
Can Boris and Carrie Johnson and
Rishi Sunak challenge the fines?
The only way would be to refuse to
pay the fine and then risk being
prosecuted in a magistrates’ court.Have they committed criminal
offences?
They have breached the coronavirus
regulations, but, strictly speaking, it is
not a criminal offence unless the fine
is not paid. A refusal to pay can be
followed by prosecution for criminal
offences.Is lying to parliament a crime?
Not at the moment. More than
133,000 people signed a petition
calling for lying to parliament to be
made a criminal offence. As the
number of signatures exceeded
100,000, MPs had to consider thematter. In August ministers responded
by saying that the government “does
not intend to introduce legislation of
this nature” and that “MPs must abide
by the code of conduct, and conduct
in the chamber is a matter for the
Speaker”.What were the penalties for
breaches of Covid lockdowns?
Originally set in spring 2020, fines of
£60 could be reduced to £30 if paid
within 14 days. Second-time offenders
could be fined £120, with the sum
doubling for further offences up to
£960. By the latter stages of the
pandemic, fines had been raised to
£200, reduced to £100 if paid within
14 days, and doubling with further
breaches up to a cap of £6,400.What were the coronavirus laws and
regulations?
The Coronavirus Act 2020 was mainly
administrative. Lockdowns were
implemented through the Public
Health Act 1984.will stop Tories drawing line under affair
MPs say the Ukraine war is reason
to hold back from changing prime
minister now, they have signalled
that this might be only a matter of
time. More are likely to put their
heads above the parapet in the days
ahead to call for his departure and
submit letters of no confidence to
the chairman of the 1922 Committee
of Tory backbenchers.
Their political calculation is
complicated by the fine issued to
Rishi Sunak. The chancellor had
been the frontrunner to succeed
Johnson but his fine caps a
vertiginous political descent over the
past few weeks and means MPs
thinking of ousting Johnson have no
clear idea who would succeed him.
Sunak said he would not resign
but, should he change his mind, it is
likely to trigger more MPs to insist
that Johnson does the same.
The third problem Johnson faces
is that this is not the end of thewere broken”. The ministerial code
is clear that any minister who
knowingly misleads parliament
should resign. Johnson insisted he
did not know he broke the rules and
therefore did not knowingly mislead
parliament.
This defence is likely to be tested
to destruction. It is possible that the
prime minister will try to buy time
by asking Lord Geidt, the ministerial
ethics chief, to rule on whether
Johnson had knowingly misled the
House.
Even then Johnson has the final
say on whether to accept any such
ruling. He has made it clear he is
determined to cling on. Ultimately
his ability to do so will come down
to the calculation of Tory MPs, who
have so far — whether through
hesitation, cowardice or calculation
— largely stopped short of the brink.
From that point of view at least,
Johnson has grounds for optimism.police investigation. He was fined
over a birthday party for him in
June 2020, which he sought to
minimise yesterday as nine minutes
in the middle of the working day.
But the police investigation is still
live and many in government are
nervous about what it will find.
Of the 12 parties being looked into
by the police, Johnson is believed to
have attended at least four.
So it is possible that he ends up
with several penalty notices that will
drip out over the next few weeks as
the police inquiries continue,
stopping No 10 from trying to draw a
line under the scandal.
Johnson also faces the charge of
misleading parliament. In
December he told the Commons
that “all guidance was followed
completely in No 10” and “I have
been repeatedly assured since these
allegations emerged that there was
no party and that no Covid rulesRishi Sunak agonised for hours yester-
day over whether to resign after the
decision by police to fine him for
attending Boris Johnson’s lockdown-
breaking party.
The chancellor spent yesterday
afternoon discussing his political future
with aides and allies, The Times under-
stands, after the unexpected decision by
the Metropolitan Police to issue him
with a fixed penalty notice for attending
the birthday event for Johnson in the
Downing Street cabinet room.
Afterwards he is understood to have
thought that he could not remain in his
post — having previously denied in
parliament that he attended any lock-
down-breaking parties.
He is believed to have thought that
while he could not stay on as chancel-
lor, he would remain in politics and saw
no reason why the prime minister
should resign.
However, friends warned him that
his resignation could be considered an
act of regicide against Johnson and
damage any chances that Sunak might
have of succeeding him.
Eventually, more than seven hours
after the police announcement of the
fines, Sunak put out a short statement
offering an “unreserved apology” and
indicating he had decided to remain in
office: “I understand that for figures in
public office, the rules must be applied
stringently in order to maintain public
confidence,” he said. “I respect the
decision that has been made and have
paid the fine.
“I know people sacrificed a great deal
during Covid, and they will find this
situation upsetting. I deeply regret the
frustration and anger caused and I am
sorry. Like the prime minister, I am
focused on delivering for the British
people at this challenging time.”
However, sources said Sunak felt
angry that he had been fined for attend-
ing the event — despite the fact that he
had not been invited and had onlyOliver Wright, Henry Zeffman
Chris SmythNews
DAN KITWOOD/GETTY IMAGESright for a leadership challenge
Chancellor settled
on an apology after
agonising for hours
attended because he was due to go to
another meeting with Johnson.
“He is a very honourable man and
feels very badly let down by being
dragged into this,” said one ally. “It is
only natural for him to be considering
what this means for him.”
Another said: “Rishi’s view is he was
just there for a meeting, and now he’s
getting humiliated for something he
never wanted to do. He is a man of hon-
our and he genuinely is thinking about
whether he can still be part of this.”
A separate source suggested Sunak
was concerned that Johnson intended
to move him in the next reshuffle
having been warned by Sir Lynton
Crosby, the Tories’ election strategist,
that last week’s revelations about his
wealth made him an electoral liability.
He is understood to think that it
would be better to return to the back
benches rather than being tarnished by
the scandal about parties.
However, friends have warned him
that such a move could damage any
chance he might have of succeeding
Johnson — even if the prime minister
were eventually forced to resign.
Yet some backbenchers have urged
Sunak to resign, saying that it would be
a “great move” which would highlight
the moral contrast between him and
the prime minister. One said that
despite Sunak’s criticism over his wife’s
tax affairs, he had always been “rules
compliant” and resigning would high-
light that. A spokeswoman for Sunak
declined to comment.
The wobble comes after a period of
intense difficulty. The revelation last
week that Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murty,
was a non-dom caused turmoil.
Initially, Murty released a statement
claiming that her tax status was an
unavoidable consequence of her Indian
citizenship. However Sunak’s admis-
sion that he held United States per-
manent resident status for almost two
years as chancellor made that position
unsustainable, and Murty announced
on Friday that she would pay UK taxes
on all her overseas income.