London: The former prime minister of Britain, Boris Johnson, has been reported to the police for additional possible lockdown rule violations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The former prime minister's office has described this as "yet another politically motivated stitch up."
In order to prepare submissions for a public inquiry into the pandemic, the Cabinet Office, which is in charge of monitoring how the government is run, said it had referred a matter to police.
The Times newspaper, which broke the news first on Tuesday, stated that ministerial diaries showed visits to Chequers, a rural country mansion used as the residence by sitting prime ministers, during the pandemic by friends.
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The Cabinet Office acknowledged that it had provided the police with information "in line with obligations in the civil service code."
Both the Thames Valley Police, which patrols the neighbourhood around Chequers, and the Metropolitan Police of London stated that they were reviewing the information regarding possible violations of health protection regulations between June 2020 and May 2021.
Johnson, whose premiership was aborted in part due to resentment in his own party and throughout Britain over lockdown parties that violated COVID-19 rules in his Downing Street office and residence, was defiant and claimed the claim was untrue.
"The Cabinet Office's claim that there have been additional COVID-19 rule violations is completely false. The events in question have been examined by solicitors, who concluded that they were legal.
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Many people will come to the conclusion that this is just another politically motivated scam.
Earlier, Johnson's spokesperson claimed that his lawyers had taken care of some "abbreviated entries" in the former prime minister's official diary that the Cabinet Office had questioned in advance of Britain's COVID-19 inquiry.
It is a further setback for Johnson, who is eager to establish himself as one of Ukraine's most ardent backers in the country's fight against Russia's invasion and is still viewed by some in the ruling Conservative Party as a vote-getter who could possibly win re-election to Britain's highest office.
He continues to be one of the most recognisable and divisive figures in British politics.
Johnson, the leading proponent of Brexit who won the 2019 election with a landslide, was removed from office by his own party in 2022 following a string of scandals and errors.
He became the first prime minister to be found to have broken the law while in office when the police fined him for attending a birthday celebration in Downing Street in June 2020.
However, he continues to enjoy support from some Conservatives who believe he is still their best chance of holding onto power. This fact is what is causing the party's divisions ahead of the election that is anticipated to take place next year.
A parliamentary committee is still looking into whether Johnson intentionally or carelessly misled the House of Commons about so-called "partygate."
There was no proof, according to the former prime minister, who testified before the Privileges Committee, that he intentionally misled lawmakers.
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His office asserted that the Cabinet Office's action was "a last-ditch attempt... to lengthen the Privileges Committee investigation as it was coming to a conclusion and to undermine Mr. Johnson" and that the meetings at Chequers were either within the bounds of the rules because they were held outside or were exempt from the rules.
Mr. Johnson's attorneys have written to the relevant police forces tonight to detail why the Cabinet Office is completely mistaken in its claims.