Boris Johnson set to apologise to MPs over lockdown fineon April 19, 2022 at 4:00 am

Boris Johnson is expected to apologise to MPs after being fined for breaking lockdown rules – as he argues there are more important issues to focus on.

The prime minister is set to make his first statement to Parliament since being being fined by police for a June 2020 breach.

Opposition parties are expected to try and censure the prime minister in the coming days amid claims he lied to MPs.

But Grant Shapps said the PM did not “knowingly” mislead Parliament.

“When the PM spoke in Parliament he didn’t knowingly appreciate that stepping into the room there was going to be something which breached the rules,” Mr Shapps said.

“It was wrong, he’s apologised, he’s accepted the fixed penalty notice and we move on.”

A No 10 source added that Mr Johnson spoke “in good faith” when he told MPs late last year no rules were broken – and blamed former aides for giving the PM wrong information.

After becoming the first serving UK prime minister to be sanctioned for breaking the law, Mr Johnson is expected to argue more pressing matters – such as the war in Ukraine – must now take priority.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Mr Johnson’s wife Carrie also received fixed penalty notices for attending a birthday gathering for the PM in No 10 in June 2020.

Hinting at the language we may hear from the prime minister later on Tuesday, Mr Johnson previously said he felt “an even greater sense of obligation to deliver” his agenda after receiving the fine.

The prime minister later promised to “set the record straight in any way I can”, having previously told Parliament no rules had been broken when allegations of Downing Street parties first emerged.

Under government rules, ministers are expected to resign for knowingly misleading MPs – and to correct the record as soon as possible if they inadvertently tell Parliament something false.

Speaker of the House Lindsay Hoyle is reportedly set to allow a vote on whether the PM misled Parliament in previous statements to MPs, according to the Daily Telegraph.

History of government expert Lord Hennessy said Mr Johnson had broken the law, misled Parliament and “shredded the ministerial code”, creating the “most severe constitutional crisis involving a prime minister”.

With some Tory MPs yet to speak publicly about Mr Johnson’s fine, the prime minister is also due to address the Conservative parliamentary party on Tuesday evening.

Some MPs fear there could be more penalties for lockdown breaches by the prime minister, as the police continue to investigate nine of the 12 Downing Street gatherings referred to them.

The Sunday Times reported claims that Mr Johnson served drinks at a November 2020 gathering for Lee Cain, his ex-communications chief, described as a regular Friday drinks event which turned into a leaving party.

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner said the reports suggested the prime minister not only attended parties in lockdown but “had a hand in instigating at least one of them”.

“He has deliberately misled the British people at every turn,” she said.

Downing Street has denied that the prime minister played a role in organising the November 2020 event.