The Metropolitan Police have come under fire after saying they will not investigate allegations that Downing Street held a series of parties last November and December while the country was under strict Covid restrictions.
The force cited a “lack of evidence” in explaining the decision after several reports of government gatherings surfaced and said they have a policy preventing them from dealing with historical allegations of Covid rule violations to deal with.
Very good then. But the public is furious that government officials may have socialized illegally while following rules that prohibit indoor gatherings, and Johnson is facing pressure from across the political spectrum to explain what happened during the holiday season, since daily allegations prove that this story isn’t working somewhere.
In the meantime, the police intervened at about the same time in numerous Covid violations, some of which seem less outrageous than a party. Here are nine times people have been fined for Covid violations during the alleged Downing Street fiesta timeline.
1. Nottingham house party guests will be fined £ 200
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After up to 150 guests attended a house party in Nottingham in December 2020, several guests were fined £ 200, the BBC reported at the time.
Nottingham was subject to the third tier restrictions, which prohibited various households from mixing indoors.
Three days after the story became known, then Education Minister Gavin Williamson had “drinks and canapés” in the café of the education department, while London was in second place and was therefore not allowed to mix with other households.
2. Three women pay £ 1.1000 each to attend parties on the same day as Downing St Bash
Three women faced retroactive fines of £ 1,100 each for attending separate house parties on Jan.
The Evening Standard reports that Ebru Sen, 26, and Ami Goto, 23, were charged with breaking rules last week while attending a gathering in an apartment in Holborn when London was under Tier 3 restrictions.
Meanwhile, Emilia Petruta-Cristea, 24, was also fined £ 1,100 by a judge for attending a meeting at her Wanstead home.
3. Fined seven women for sharing a limousine
(Getty Images / iStockphoto)
A group of women (like you) traveling together in a limousine was discovered on Jan.
If you can’t remember, it was in the bad old days when people could only leave their homes for essential reasons, such as going to school and work, shopping for groceries, visiting doctors, and exercising.
The day before their frolic, Dominic Cummings alleged that Carrie Symonds was throwing a house party on Downing Street.
4. Man fined for having a cup of tea at his friend’s house
A Wigan man was fined by Greater Manchester Police for visiting a friend’s home for a cup of tea on November 6, 2020 during the second national lockdown.
We hope he had at least one cookie too.
5. Police fined London office party
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Police fined £ 10,000 after discovering a London office party – attended by 45 people – with “booze, a DJ and decks,” LBC said.
The party took place in the City of London in early December and at the time the Rozzers said that people “have to stick to the rules and social distance even during the Christmas season”.
The office wasn’t 10 Downing Street.
6. Hair salon fined for staying open during the second lockdown
A West Yorkshire hair salon was fined £ 27,000 after refusing to close during the second national lockdown despite multiple warnings.
Allegedly there were two parties on Downing Street that same month.
7. People flee illegal martial arts classes to avoid fines
Gym goers tried to escape police after they were caught attending an illegal martial arts class during the Cheshire lockdown in November 2020.
Cheshire Live reported that police issued nine fines worth £ 200. Meanwhile, the site owner who was not named has not been fined for not knowing the course was being organized.
8. Group of four dispersed by police
Police fined four people £ 200 each for breaking coronavirus rules by gathering in an apartment in a Leicestershire town.
A Leicestershire police spokeswoman told Leicester Mercury at the time: “We were called to a report on a meeting on a property on Rutland Street in Melton at 7.30pm on Monday.
“Four people at the address were fined for violating the Covid-19 protection regulations.
“The group in the apartment was dispersed.”
At least 40 people are said to have attended the alleged party in Downing Street on December 18, ten times as many as in the Leicestershire Wrong.
9. Devon Pub fined for not operating in a Covid Safe manner.
(Charlotte Tattersall / Getty Images)
A pub in Barnstaple, North Devon received three fines totaling £ 3,000 after police and enforcement officers took them to the company’s 12th property.
The staff at the pub, called Rumors, didn’t check the customers were in the same household group or bubble before letting them in, and no filling meals were served – as was required at the time (remember Scottish eggs? ).
We wonder if Williamson’s “canapes” count as a hearty meal.
These are only nine examples, but there are undoubtedly more. Indy100 has contacted the Crown Prosecution Service and the Metropolitan Police for a full record of the fines imposed on the public during this period.