The Prime Minister’s Fixed Penalty Notice

Following the Prime Minister’s and the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s receiving of a Fixed Penalty Notice for attending a party in Downing Street, whilst the country was in national lockdown, Darren received a considerable number of emails calling for their resignations.

Darren agreed that the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer should consider their positions and recognise the hurt and offence that the reports of parties in Downing Street is causing across the country - particularly to those who lost a loved one during the course of the pandemic.

You can read Darren’s full response as follows:

Dear Constituent,

Thank you for taking the time to write to me about the Prime Minister’s recent conduct and his receiving of a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) for his attending a party in Downing Street in May 2020 whilst the country was under lockdown. I hope that this reply finds you well.

Like you, I think that the Prime Minister has acted in a way that demeans the office he occupies. In May 2020, the Prime Minister, and other members of the Cabinet, were asking all of us to make enormous sacrifices to try and prevent the spread of Covid-19. For months, people up and down the country had followed the rules that the Prime Minister had asked us to follow, and often at very great costs to their mental and physical wellbeing.

The Prime Minister, who remains under multiple investigations in Parliament and by the Metropolitan Police, needs to correct the record in the House of Commons and then offer his resignation. Any other Prime Minister who had been found to have broken the law would do so.

Boris Johnson seems to think he is above the rule of law, Parliamentary protocol and the precedents that underpin our unwritten constitution. He will, however, get away with it all unless Conservative Members of Parliament (MPs) step up and force a change in leader. I sadly don’t expect that to happen, which is an indictment on the modern Conservative Party and its MPs, as well as the Prime Minister.

My thoughts remain with those who were to forced to make unbearable decisions during lockdown: whether that be not visiting elderly relatives, having to give birth without a partner in hospital, or shielding away alone from family and friends.

My thoughts are also with those who lost a loved one during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In response to the Prime Minister receiving a FPN, the Chair of Covid-19 Justice UK, Hannah Brady, stated:

‘We couldn’t hold our loved ones’ hands whilst they passed away. We couldn’t visit our loved ones’ when they needed us the most. Every single day this is something we have to live with, all because we obeyed the rules that were there to stop others from experiencing our pain.

[He] broke those laws intended to keep us safe. [He] trampled on the sacrifices we and all the British public made. [He] paid a fine. Our loved ones paid with their lives”.

The Prime Minister should do the only honourable thing left to him and resign.

Please do let me know if I can provide you with any further assistance.

Yours sincerely,

Darren

Darren Jones MP
Member of Parliament for Bristol North West