Welsh secretary Simon Hart has said people have "moved on" from wanting the Prime Minister to resign over lockdown parties at Downing Street. Fines are beginning to be issued by the Met Police after their investigations into parties in Downing Street and government departments during lockdown.
The Prime Minister's spokesman has repeatedly said if Boris Johnson is one of those who receives a fine, the public will be told due to the considerable public interest but it will not name all the staff who are fined. However, some names are emerging as the first fines are issued.
Asked on Sky News if the prime minister should resign if he's fined, Conservative MP Simon Hart told Sky News he thinks "the world has moved on a considerable distance". He said most of his constituents "want an apology, but they don't want a resignation".
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"I have 65,000 constituents in West Wales, where I represent and they are not shy in coming forward and throughout all this saga with Downing Street parties they have said one thing very clearly, and the vast majority, they say they want contrition and they want an apology but they don't want a resignation. I think, at the moment, the idea that it might be appropriate to have a six week, self-indulgent leadership contest, frankly, I don't think that's very sensible either.
"We all make judgements which we have time to reflect on and wish we'd made differently. I think, for me, personally speaking, the world has moved on a considerable distance. I trust the views of the people who elected me who say put this problem right, you acted inappropriately at the time, but the idea that every politician or every journalist for that matter who makes a misjudgement at the time should automatically be sacked is not something I subscribe to."
Last week, Scotland Yard issued 20 fixed penalty notices to people who attended lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street and Whitehall. Reports in The Daily Telegraph has reported one of those is the government's former ethics chief Helen MacNamara who was director general of propriety and ethics in the Cabinet Office from 2018 to 2020, the purpose of her role being to ensure the highest standards of propriety, integrity, and governance within government.
Responding to Mr Hart's comments, Liberal Democrat Christine Jardine MP said: "These comments are an insult to every family that suffered in lockdown while Downing Street partied. Boris Johnson's Conservatives have got something else coming if they think the public has moved on from this shameful scandal. Boris Johnson broke the rules he asked us all to obey then repeatedly lied about it. Conservative MPs must rediscover their moral compass and get rid of him."
