London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 24, 2025

Public should know if PM’s wife gets police fine, says Keir Starmer

Public should know if PM’s wife gets police fine, says Keir Starmer

Labour leader says No 10 should own up if Carrie Johnson gets fixed-penalty notice over lockdown parties
Keir Starmer has insisted the public must be told if the prime minister’s wife, Carrie Johnson, receives a fixed-penalty notice for breaking lockdown rules, as Labour keeps up pressure on the government over the issue.

No 10 has said it will reveal whether the prime minister or the cabinet secretary, Simon Case, have received fines, but has suggested other individuals will not be named.

The Metropolitan police announced this week that it would issue 20 fixed-penalty notices as a result of its investigation into 12 gatherings held in Downing Street while Covid restrictions were in place.

One was a party allegedly held by Carrie Johnson in the Downing Street flat, and another was a birthday gathering for the prime minister, organised by his wife, at which Johnson’s ministerial colleague Conor Burns subsequently claimed he was “ambushed by a cake”.

Starmer told broadcasters on Thursday: “If Carrie Johnson gets a fixed-penalty notice, then of course it should be made public.

“My focus is on the prime minister because he is the one who sets the culture, he is the one who oversaw this criminality at his home and his office, he is the one that came to parliament and said all rules were complied with, which is clearly not the case.”

It is understood that not even Cabinet Office officials know how many more fines the police might be considering, or how long the investigation might take. They are also not expected to be told by police which gatherings any fines relate to.

It is possible that as a result the full report into the claims of illicit parties compiled by the senior civil servant Sue Gray might not be published for some weeks. The Met will tell officials when the force has issued the last fines, after which the report will be updated before being released.

If a handful of people challenge their fixed-penalty notices, the report could still be published before the process is over to avoid further delays, but with any references to their actions removed.

Johnson appeared to clash with the justice secretary on Wednesday, with Dominic Raab saying the 20 penalties showed there were “clearly breaches of the regulations” while the prime minister continued to insist he could not give a “running commentary” on the investigation.

Asked about the discrepancy, Johnson’s official spokesperson said that while “the facts are not in dispute”, because of the prime minister’s direct involvement in the process it was felt it would not be right for him to comment before the police investigation was entirely finished.

He said: “Clearly, this is something that’s been centred on both No 10 and the Cabinet Office in the main – and we’ve confirmed that the prime minister has received a questionnaire – but I think it was simply the prime minister’s view that while there is an ongoing live investigation, it wouldn’t be right for him to give his response at that point.”

Starmer was speaking as he launched Labour’s campaign for the 5 May local elections in Bury, in which the party will focus on the cost of living crisis.

The Labour leader told activists: “We’ve got exactly five weeks to send a message to Boris Johnson and his Tories that they can’t ignore. A message that Britain deserves better than their pathetic, their miserable response to the cost of living crisis.”

He said the public were facing “prices through the roof, wages through the floor”, but the government’s response had been “to take more than they give”.

Labour hopes to show in the elections that it has made progress, though the last time that most of the seats up for grabs were contested, in 2018, the party performed relatively well.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
×