Labour calls Boris Johnson a “liar” after 20 fines are issued in ‘partygate’ scandal

“All guidance was followed completely in No 10.” Those were the words spoken by Boris Johnson in parliament when the ‘partygate’ allegations first emerged. A week later, after we learned of the infamous cheese and wine soiree, the Prime Minister told the Commons: “I have been repeatedly assured since these allegations emerged that there was no party and that no Covid rules were broken.” The 20 fixed penalty notices now being issued to people in Downing Street are the first official confirmation that the Covid rules were not followed.

Downing Street has assured journalists that we will be informed if Johnson gets a fine. As no announcement has taken place, we can infer that he has not received one – yet. The police said these were the “first referrals” and there is still a “investigative material that remains to be assessed” that means “further referrals may be made”. But the focus for now is on the extent to which the Prime Minister misled parliament.

The fines demonstrate that “the Prime Minister is a liar”, Wes Streeting said today. “I can’t think of a single Prime Minister that has walked into the House of Commons and deliberately lied. There may be times when Prime Ministers have been wrong. There may be times where Prime Ministers might bend the truth,” the Shadow Health Secretary added. “But to have a Prime Minister lie to the country, to the House of Commons, to the Queen and still be in post is completely unacceptable.”

We do not know which parties the fines relate to. If they have not been handed out as a result of Christmas parties – but other socialising events instead – then the Prime Minister could claim that he technically did not mislead parliament. The statements above were in reference to gatherings held in December 2020. This defence will do little to assuage public outrage, however, and Johnson’s premiership is still in a perilous position. Keir Starmer will no doubt be looking forward to an enjoyable Prime Minister’s Questions session later today, pointing out the various conflicting comments made by his opposite number.

But the most powerful thing about partygate is not what it does to Johnson – it is the story it allows Labour to tell about the disconnected and arrogant nature of the people making the political decisions in our country. When people were dying in huge numbers and we were being asked to make the most tragic sacrifices, the Prime Minister and the people working around him – who were setting the rules that demanded that sacrifice – were categorically not ‘in the same boat’ as us. As we now face the biggest fall in living standards in generations, and after a dismal Spring Statement aimed not at helping people but at furthering Rishi Sunak’s ambitions, the people making the decisions are once again far removed from the consequences and out of touch with the experiences of the rest of us in a national crisis. Labour should use partygate to tell this story about the Tories.