2023-05-25 10:42:30
The British Government has asked the police to investigate a dozen meetings that former Prime Minister Boris Johnson held at Downing Street and Checkers, an official residence in the countryside. Officials in charge of examining official records believe that Johnson participated in about 12 events that had not been identified until now and that did not comply with the restrictions to curb the spread of COVID imposed by the Government itself.
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As revealed by the newspaper The GuardianThese are social gatherings at the seat of government and the prime minister’s residence, 10 Downing Street, and at Checkers, the mansion in north-west London usually reserved for receiving heads of state from other countries and that Johnson and his family used for the confinements of 2020 and 2021. So far there are no details of what type of meetings they were, but a source told this newspaper that there were “criminal” signs in relation to the regulations in force then. Rachel Johnson, sister of the Prime Minister, says that “all the rules were met” when she was a guest on Checkers.
In April 2022, the police already fined Johnson, his wife Carrie, and the current prime minister, Rishi Sunak, for breaking the rules by gathering or celebrating with too many people, not respecting safety distances and not complying with the requirements for work exceptions during the most restrictive times (the UK was one of the countries with the longest lockdowns in 2020 and 2021). This new investigation could lead to new sanctions for Johnson and for other public officials still in the Government, but the main consequence may be next month in the House of Commons.
It is expected that at the end of June the parliamentary commission in charge of examining the behavior of the former prime minister will decide whether to sanction him for lying to the House of Commons by assuring that he was not aware of having violated the rules. If the commission imposes a suspension of at least 10 days on Johnson, that means he will have to leave his seat. The Chamber, which is majority toryhe has to approve any sanctions against Johnson before that happens.
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The former prime minister, who resigned in July last year, accuses the current premier of having orchestrated a persecution against him for political reasons. johnson, what this week I was visiting Dallas and Austinin Texas, repeats that it is a “witch hunt” by his own party and his former minister.
But Sunak’s office says he didn’t even know which officials had informed the police of these latest suspicious events. This came after Johnson’s lawyers charged with representing him in another official inquiry into the management of the pandemic spoke to members of the government cabinet about official diaries recording the prime minister’s activity and showing suspicious events with family and friends, according to the newspaper The Timesthe first to publish the information on the new research.
According to a cabinet spokesperson, the information “was identified as part of the normal review of potentially relevant documents.” Heather Hallett, a former judge and the House of Lords member in charge of the pandemic management inquiry, has asked for Johnson’s full diaries and WhatsApp messages.
Thames Valley police, in charge of the area where Checkers’ residence is located, say they received the information about possible violations of sanitary rules on May 18, after a first contact two days earlier. According to Downing Street, Sunak learned of the sending of this data to the police between May 19 and 23.
Asked if Sunak was involved in any of the suspicious events, his spokesman said: “No, of course not.”
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