UK Cabinet Ministry refers Boris Johnson to police for breaking Covid rules at Checkers

Scotland Yard is weighing whether to open a new investigation into former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, this time for breaking Covid rules at the official Checkers residence, where he may have hosted family and friends while millions of Britons were under the restrictions of the confinements

UK Cabinet Ministry refers Boris Johnson to police for breaking Covid rules at Checkers

Scotland Yard is weighing whether to open a new investigation into former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, this time for breaking Covid rules at the official Checkers residence, where he may have hosted family and friends while millions of Britons were under the restrictions of the confinements.

Johnson has been referred to the police by the Cabinet Ministry itself, upon discovering evidence in entry records to the official residence in the English countryside. Until now, the so-called Partygate was concentrated in the dozen parties and events held at number 10 Downing Street, which resulted in 126 fines (including a £100 fine, halved, to the then premier for his birthday party). birthday).

The revelations about the alleged violations of the rules also in Checkers -anticipated by The Times- come with days to go before the verdict of the parliamentary committee that must determine whether Johnson deliberately lied when he said that the Covid rules had not been violated in Downing Street.

If the committee rules that he did lie on purpose, Johnson could be suspended as an MP, forcing a special election to be held in his constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip, west London. News about the alleged rule-breaking at Checkers has fueled calls for his suspension, which could put an end to his ambitions for a return to politics after he resigns in July 2022.

Johnson has not responded personally to the new accusations, but sources from his environment quoted by Sky News assured that the referral of the new evidence to the police by the Cabinet Ministry is due "to a clear political motivation" and that the former prime minister did not did not even receive prior notification.

The same sources assured that the events were considered "legal" by his lawyers at the time and that Johnson himself has made this known to the parliamentary committee that has extended its investigation to the visits that occurred in Checkers. Scotland Yard has confirmed that it received the new evidence on May 19 and that it refers to incidents that occurred in June 2020 and May 2021, although it has not yet decided to open a new official investigation.

A Cabinet Ministry spokesman said the information came to light during the process of preparing Johnson's testimony before the Partygate parliamentary committee. The aforementioned spokesman assured that, in compliance with the civil service code, the officials passed the material "to the relevant authorities."

The new revelations come days after the maneuvers of the hard wing of the party and Boris Johnson's old allies against Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, accused by the former Secretary of the Interior, Priti Patel, of "managing the decline of the Conservative Party" instead of behaving like a leader.

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