Downing Street staff slapped with fines for attending party on eve of Prince Phillip’s funeral: Report

Several Downing Street staff have been penalised by the Metropolitan Police for attending a party on the eve of Prince Phillip’s funeral, local media reports said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has not been issued a fine as he did not attend the event, BBC reported.

The news outlet, quoting sources, said that 20 fines were issued against people who attended the lockdown-breaking parties since January, of which the first tranche of fines has been issued against the Downing Street staff.

The police said the identity of the recipients will not be revealed unless they challenge the fine in court.

However, Telegraph on Monday claimed that the former director of ethics in the cabinet office, Helen MacNamara, had received a fine in connection with a party in June 2020.

According to The Guardian, two events took place on April 8, 2021. The first party was held to mark the departure of Johnson’s director of communications, James Slack, while the other one was for Johnson’s personal photographers.

At the time, England had imposed a strict lockdown, and banned all indoor mixing.

According to reports, many of those who partied in No 10 on April 16 were sent questionnaires by the Met police asking them to provide a reasonable excuse for their participation.

It is also being claimed that the Downing Street staff were so drunk that they broke the swing used by the prime minister’s son, Wilf, in the No.10 garden.

The Metropolitan Police is investigating 12 events held in January, breakingthe lockdown rules, of which six of them have been attended by the British prime minister.

(With inputs from agencies)