Cumbria’s MPs are divided on whether Boris Johnson should resign after he was fined for attending a lockdown-breaking event in Downing Street.
The Prime Minister and Chancellor were issued with fixed penalty notices after attending an event in Downing Street in June 2020.
The Metropolitan Police has also revealed that more than 50 people have been fined over parties held in Downing Street.
The fine calls into question comments made by the Prime Minister to MPs in December.
He told the House of Commons: “I repeat that I have been repeatedly assured since these allegations emerged that there was no party and that no COVID rules were broken.”
MPs will vote tomorrow on whether claims the Prime Minister misled Parliament over Partygate should be investigated.
The Times says Mr Johnson will whip his MPs to vote down the motion, put forward by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.
But what have Cumbria’s MPs had to say about the fines issued to the Prime Minister and Chancellor?
Barrow and Furness
Barrow and Furness Conservative MP, Simon Fell, said: “I have been clear through this sorry process that breaking the rules that you are responsible for setting is unacceptable and that the appropriate consequences should follow.
“It is quite clear that the behaviour of many people who worked at the centre of government while the country was locked down was exactly that: unacceptable. These events simply should not have occurred.
“At its heart, this issue is about culture and propriety. The initial Sue Gray report rightly set out the issues around the culture in Downing Street. These have been addressed through personnel and structural changes with, I expect, more to follow.
“The PM and the Chancellor have accepted their fines and apologised publicly. The FPNs were issued for an unscheduled event where staff in No 10 surprised the PM with a birthday cake for less than 10 minutes before the work day continued.
“With that event being the reason for the fines, I do not believe the offence is proportionate to removing the Prime Minister and destabilising the government for months. I also don’t – on the basis of this event – believe that parliament was misled. Certainly I would not call the 10 minute sharing of a birthday cake in the middle of a working day a ‘party’.
“I have taken a good deal of time to think about this over the last few weeks, chatting to constituents on the doorstep and taking their minds.
“I remain angry and frustrated at events, but in my heart, I just don’t think that this event merits the removal of a Prime Minister, or that now is the right time to plunge headfirst into a leadership election when the world is facing down a dangerous dictator who is threatening our European neighbours in Ukraine, while we recover from a global pandemic, or as we respond to the rising price of energy. It simply wouldn’t be the balanced or responsible thing to do.
“And while I understand why people would be unsatisfied with this position, it’s my honest view, come to after much thought. Be assured, I will be sharing each and every piece of correspondence on this matter with the PM and Chancellor.”
Carlisle
Carlisle’s Conservative MP, John Stevenson, said: “As I have said in the past, I am very disappointed about what happened in Number 10. There have been a lot of fines and the Prime Minister has accepted what happened.
“The House of Commons will today (Thursday) vote for a motion to refer the matter (of whether Boris Johnson knowingly misled Parliament) to the privileges committee and I am supportive of that. It is the right course of action.
“I believe we should wait for the full Sue Gray report and once it has concluded, the Prime Minister should then submit to a confidence vote of Conservative MPs.”
The Sue Gray report is expected to be released in full once the Metropolitan Police have concluded their investigation. This is expected to be next month.
On the point of whether the Prime Minister knowingly misled Parliament when he told MPs that he had been “repeatedly assured” that “there was no party and that no COVID rules were broken,” Mr Stevenson said: “You could argue it is an interpretation of rules and how we interpret them. That would be his view on the matter.”
The Carlisle MP expects that should a vote take place today on whether the matter should be referred to the Committee of Privileges, it will pass.
Copeland
Copeland’s Conservative MP, Trudy Harrison, said: “The PM and the Chancellor have paid their fines and have offered full apologies.
“I support them in continuing getting on with the job in hand.”
Penrith and The Border
Penrith and the Border’s Conservative MP, Neil Hudson, said: “As I have previously said, I was shocked and appalled at the reports of numerous gatherings and parties at Downing Street. For me, this is a matter of integrity and honesty at the heart of Government and we need to get clarity and closure as soon as possible.
“I maintain my position that I categorically will not defend the indefensible. I fully share the country’s outrage and upset about these Downing Street parties when people up and down the land were making huge personal and sometimes tragic sacrifices to do the right thing and obey the public health rules.
“Again I maintain, if rules and indeed the law have been broken, then quite rightly there should be serious consequences for all those involved, no matter who they are.
“The fact that the Prime Minister and Chancellor have been found in breach of the Covid rules and issued with fixed penalty notices is extremely disappointing. The fact that the lawmakers went on to break those very laws they brought in to keep us all safe is deeply damaging for our democracy.
“That situation is untenable moving forward. That said, I do not believe it would be prudent or responsible to change the leadership of the Government in the midst of the international crisis that is the war in Ukraine. Destabilising the UK Government would undermine international efforts to support the Ukrainian people and bring the despicable Russian invasion to an end.
“I will therefore be looking to the Prime Minister to show the statesmanship he has been showing with Ukraine, and outline a timetable and process for an orderly transition to a leadership election as soon as the international situation permits.”
Westmorland and Lonsdale
Liberal Democrat MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, Tim Farron, said: “I have just been speaking with a group of local elderly people who spent long lonely months isolated during lockdown. They made huge sacrifices to do the right thing.
“The PM and Chancellor thought they were above those people and above the law – of course, they must resign.”
Workington
Workington’s Conservative MP, Mark Jenkinson, said in a tweet: “The left wants to bring down a democratically-elected government over a birthday cake widely reported at the time the PM is delivering for Britain.
“Just imagine the state we’d be in under Sir Keir Starmer – still masked, locked down, and him fighting his own party to support Ukraine.”
Have you read?
A former Penrith Conservative MP says the Prime Minister “must go” over Partygate.
