Labour has renewed calls for Boris Johnson to resign over the partygate scandal as another Tory Minister admitted that the fixed penalty notices issued by police amounted to a breach of the law.
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said the Prime Minister could not continue to hide behind the Ukraine war, the reason many Tory MPs and Labour itself previously held as a reason for keeping him in post.
Reeves said: “The whole of Parliament is united in our response to Ukraine and if Boris Johnson was replaced by a different member of the Cabinet, a different Member of Parliament, the position on Ukraine would not change.
“The position of the UK Government would not change if the prime minister changed.
“But at the moment we have a Prime Minister who has a total disrespect for the rules, has treated the British people as if they are fools, and I don’t think that he is fit to govern."
The fiasco around partygate continued on Thursday after a second Cabinet minister appeared to be at odds with Boris Johnson over whether 20 fines issued by the Met Police represented a breach of the law.
International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan told Sky News the fixed penalty notices issued on Tuesday meant those people receiving them had “broken the regulations that were set in the Covid act”.
She added: “The Police deem that was what they did and therefore they have been fined accordingly”.
Her comments echoed remarks by the Justice Secretary Dominic Raab 24 hours earlier,
But the Prime Minister is refusing to confirm whether the fines mean the law was broken.
Told by SNP MP Pete Wishart on Wednesday that his career was “toast” if he was fined the Prime Minister refused to take the bait.
His official spokesman has repeatedly said the Prime Minister will not comment further until the Met has concluded its inquiries into 12 parties which took place at Downing Street and in Whitehall between June 2020 and April 2021.
Johnson is reported to have attended at least six of the events which took place when Covid lockdown rules were in place.
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