Mail Online

Party photos ‘prove Boris and Rishi should not have been fined’

By Kumail Jaffer Political Reporter

THE fines for Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak attending the PM’s birthday celebrations were thrown into doubt yesterday by newly released photos.

The images show it was a low-key event more akin to a business meeting. Mr Johnson was pictured with the Chancellor and senior civil servant Simon Case – all around packets of M&S sandwiches and jugs of fruit juice.

Other images from Sue Gray’s report show Mr Johnson raising a can of beer and making a toast with a plastic cup during the event on June 19, 2020.

The gathering in the Cabinet Room in No 10 was the only one the Prime Minister was fined for – along with his wife Carrie and Mr Sunak. Marco Longhi, Tory MP for Dudley North, said: ‘Just look at these photos. Two people having a snack while doing their best for the country during extraordinary times. And the police fined them, retrospectively, when they didn’t in 2020.

‘How many others should be fined if judged by the same standards?’

Another unnamed Conservative MP said: ‘These photos show an office environment, sparsely populated with staff working long hours during the pandemic. Sue Gray’s statement offers nothing new.’

Miss Gray’s report contains four photographs of the gathering that marked the Prime Minister’s 56th birthday.

Mr Johnson was reportedly presented with a cake but it remained uneaten.

Partygate: The Verdict

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