Boris Johnson: People have lost 'trust' in the PM says expert

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Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak have resisted calls to resign after being fined for breaking Covid lockdown rules by attending a gathering held for the Prime Minister’s birthday in June 2020. This is just one of 12 parties the Metropolitan police are investigating, and Mr Johnson is believed to have been at six of them – meaning the PM could be slapped with many more fines.

Mr Johnson issued a “full apology” for breaking the rules, saying it “did not occur” to him that the gathering was a violation of Covid restriction rules.

He said: “I have to say in all frankness at that time it did not occur to me that this might have been a breach of the rules. I now humbly accept that I was.”

“But I think the best thing I can do now is, having settled the fine, is focus on the job at hand. That’s what I’m going to do.”

Throughout the legally enforced lockdowns in the UK, a number of varying fines were fixed depending on the offence.

How much was Boris Johnson fined for breaking lockdown rules?

So far, Mr Johnson has only been fined for his attendance at one gathering and the charge for this was £100.

However, as he agreed to pay the fine within 14 days, this sum was halved to £50. The same went for Mr Sunak and Mr Johnson’s wife, Carrie, who were also fined the same amount.

Some question why Mr Johnson was fined £100 when others across the UK were issued with doubled fines of £200.

This is because at the time the party being investigated took place (June 2020), the fixed penalty for small gatherings was £100. You can only be fined according to the fixed penalty at the time of the crime.

The fines evolved over the course of each lockdown. As of March 2020, fines started at £60, to which they then crept to £100 from May 2020, then £200 from September 2020.

However, as this is just one of six parties Mr Johnson is believed to have attended, and with police investigations still underway, the Prime Minister could end up with fines higher than £10,000 when taking the fines issued for multiple offences into account.

From September 2020, restrictions on small gatherings were issued fixed penalty notices starting at £200 for the first offence and doubled with every subsequent offence until reaching a price cap of £6,400.

For large events of more than 15 people, fines started at £800 and again, doubled each time until reaching a price cap of £6,400.

For those attending even larger gatherings of 30 or more people, £10,000 fines were issued.

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However, the calculations aren’t straightforward as Mr Johnson has been accused of attending parties under different periods of law.

Of the five remaining parties police are investigating Mr Johnson’s attendance at, one is reported to have taken place before September 2020, and four were after that date.

For the one party before September 2020, the fine would be £200 for a second offence, £400 for a third, £800 for a fourth, £1,600 for a fifth, and £3,200 for a sixth.

For the four parties after September 2020, the fine amounts to £400 for a second offence, then £800 for a third and continues to double before reaching the £6,400 price cap.

So, he could be fined £400 for a second offence in November; but then another £400 for a third offence in May, before jumping up to £1,600 for a fourth offence in December.

Barrister Adam Wagner said: “It’s all a bit unprecedented because the police haven’t really done this before – given out multiple retrospective fixed penalty notices.”

However, if the police charged Mr Johnson with six fines, the final fine could very well be £6,400, which could bring the overall charge to over £10,000.

Although, if paid within the 14 day period, the total sum will be halved.

Mr Johnson is due to make his first statement to parliament today since the announcement of his lockdown-busting fines.

He is expected to issue an apology however, opposition parties are looking into “various ways” the Prime Minister can be held to account.

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