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Harry Fletcher
Apr 13, 2022
Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak fined over lockdown parties
IndyTV
The prime minister and the chancellor have been fined for breaking the law, and people have quite a lot to say about it.
More than 50 fines have been issued over law-breaking parties held at Downing Street and Whitehall during lockdown, including none other than Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak.
They have both received fixed penalty notices for attending a birthday gathering for Johnson in Number 10 in June 2020, where Johnson was ‘ambushed by cake’.
It’s history in the making, as Johnson has now become the first sitting PM to have broken the law, which is hardly the kind of achievement he’d have envisioned during his tenure.
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Despite calls from opposition politicians and bereaved families, the pair have made it clear that they won’t be leaving any time soon.
But that hasn’t stopped the internet delivering its verdict, with the best kinds of memes and reaction emerging on social media since the news broke.
There are some of the best reactions, from the likes of Gary Lineker, Piers Morgan, Rylan and more.
It might go down as the finest party in history.— Gary Lineker \ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc9b (@Gary Lineker \ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc9b) 1649773087
how will Nadine Dorries get the boys out of this one— Ava-Santina (@Ava-Santina) 1649769311
Hey everyone, upon seeing the news I made a 2 minute loop of Nelson from the Simpsons saying haha to Boris Johnson. Enjoy.pic.twitter.com/eGdfO9zQcj— Matthew Highton (@Matthew Highton) 1649769949
Happy Fixed Penalty Notice Day to those who celebrate— Dr Xand van Tulleken \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Dr Xand van Tulleken \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1649769157
Not often that one of my joke songs becomes a legally established fact\u2026pic.twitter.com/2s1HvrkiEb— Mitch Benn \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa (@Mitch Benn \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa) 1649768887
I\u2019ve told Boris Johnson that checkout time is 11am and that he can take his wallpaper with him. #Partygate— Larry the Cat (@Larry the Cat) 1649768168
The 1922 Committee rnpic.twitter.com/kP1Ne4u90L— Best for Britain (@Best for Britain) 1649771067
You\u2019ve got thirty seconds to say your goodbyes!pic.twitter.com/stM3odhCUV— Marcus Bentley (@Marcus Bentley) 1649771989
THERE'S BEEN A FIXED PENALTY NOTICE ISSUED AT DOWNING STREET BUT WHO IS IT FOR CHRIS KAMARA?pic.twitter.com/hVdCiPLZ8j— Graeme Demianyk (@Graeme Demianyk) 1649768522
He\u2019s officially broke the law . That\u2019s it ain\u2019t it?— R Y L A N (@R Y L A N) 1649767862
The week in Tory MPs so far: one convicted of molesting a minor, another having to apologise for defending said paedophile, PM and chancellor convicted of breaking the COVID laws they wrote. And it\u2019s only Fucking Tuesday.— Jay Rayner (@Jay Rayner) 1649769877
\u201cSurely THIS must be the thing that ends Boris Johnson\u2019s career\u201d\n\n\u2014 Ancient British proverb— \u2728 Dean T\u0101ne \u2728 (@\u2728 Dean T\u0101ne \u2728) 1649768871
Give the person who managed to use these pictures whilst reporting Boris and Sunak's fines a raise.pic.twitter.com/98Huak7w4s— Scott Bryan (@Scott Bryan) 1649769669
NOT BORIS AND RISHI SURELY NOT I CAN'T BELIEVE IT THEY SEEMED SO HONESThttps://twitter.com/aljwhite/status/1513860099462344704\u00a0\u2026— Adam Kay (@Adam Kay) 1649767462
\u2018Now is not the time to get rid of a Prime Minister who broke his own laws and lied to Parliament!\u2019 \nHmmmm.— Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan) 1649774684
Sunak trying to pay his finepic.twitter.com/pZtsVYYyFO— Tom Peters (@Tom Peters) 1649771989
It comes after the first Conservative MP suggested he should resign as prime minister, calling his position “untenable”.
Backbencher Nigel Mills said: “I don’t think the PM can survive or should survive breaking the rules he put in place … He’s been fined, I don’t think his position is tenable.”
Mr Mills, MP for Amber Valley in Derbyshire, said the public was “rightly angry that at a time when they were observing the very strictest of the rules people who were making the rules didn’t have the decency to observe them”.
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