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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Ben Glaze

Downing Street staff who partied night away before Prince Philip's funeral to be fined

Downing Street staff who partied in No10 the night before Prince Philip's funeral are set to be slapped with fines.

Officials and aides who held a boozy double leaving bash on April 16 last year have been told they will be hit with fixed penalty notes, according to the Guardian.

The Partygate event triggered widespread fury when it emerged because coronavirus restrictions in force last spring forced the Queen to grieve for her husband alone at St George’s Chapel, Windsor.

In contrast, No10 staff were said to have held such a raucous party for two colleagues that they broke a garden swing used by Boris Johnson's son, Wilf.

The Metropolitan Police reportedly told those set to be fined that it had been “assessed that there are reasonable grounds to believe that you committed an offence in contravention of the regulations”.

The Queen had to endure her husbands funeral alone as per Covid-rules (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

They added: “In light of this, you are to be reported for the issuance of a fixed penalty notice (FPN), offering you the opportunity of discharging any liability to conviction for the offence by payment of a fixed penalty.”

The PM had previously told MPs that regulations had been followed.

Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said of the latest tranche of fines: "This confirms what the British public have known all along - Boris Johnson is a liar and must resign.

"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 go.

Downing Street staff have been embroiled in many 'partygate' scandals (Getty Images)

"The emotional images of the Queen sitting alone at her husband's funeral were the hallmark of the British spirit through the pandemic.

“Boris Johnson's Downing Street didn't show an ounce of respect for this country."

It comes as former Whitehall ethics chief Helen MacNamara was reportedly handed a Partygate fine over a lockdown karaoke bash in the Cabinet Office.

Ms MacNamara, who was also deputy cabinet secretary, was among the first tranche of people slapped with a fixed-penalty notice by police as part of the probe into rule-breaking parties in Downing Street and Whitehall.

The senior civil servant was among the 20 people handed a £50 fine on Friday over a raucous gathering on June 18 2020, according to the Daily Telegraph.

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