Boris Johnson is being referred to the police for possible breach of new Covid rules

Boris Johnson, Britain’s former prime minister, has again been referred to police by a government office to assess claims he may have further breached coronavirus rules, the Cabinet Office said in a statement on Tuesday.

Mr Johnson, who is currently visiting Texas to lobby for Republican support for Ukraine, was fined last year while still in office for violating Covid rules in 2020, one of a series of scandals during his tumultuous term that eventually led to his resignation last summer.

He faced a barrage of criticism over rallies held at his hometown and government offices during strict coronavirus lockdowns, which his government put in place in 2020 and 2021 as the country endured its worst pandemic.

The scandal quickly became known as ‘partygate’. An investigation into some of the gatherings revealed that members of his staff had held parties in violation of pandemic restrictions, and police fined Mr Johnson this spring for breaching lockdown rules on Downing Street.

At a parliamentary hearing in March on whether he had lied to lawmakers about parties breaking the lockdown, Mr. Johnson, but struggled to justify some of the misleading statements he made. Parliament has not yet issued a report on this.

But The Times of London does reported that the latest reference to the police is linked to new allegations about his behavior in Downing StreeT as well as several visits to the Prime Minister’s country residence, Checkers, which came to light during preparations for a public inquiry into the pandemic.

The UK Cabinet Office did not clarify the exact circumstances, but said in a statement on Tuesday that it had forwarded details of a possible breach to the relevant authorities and it is now a matter for them.

London’s Metropolitan Police and Thames Valley Police, which monitor the area, including the Prime Minister’s mansion, have both referred the matter to them for investigation.

The Metropolitan Police said they were reviewing information they received from the Cabinet Office last week which “relates to possible breaches of the Health Protection Regulations between June 2020 and May 2021 in Downing Street.”

A spokesman for Mr Johnson told the BBC the former prime minister denied any wrongdoing. But the latest allegations have quickly drawn condemnation from his political opponents and from the relatives of those who died from the coronavirus, many of whom have long been critical of Mr Johnson’s approach to the pandemic.

Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, a group representing those who have died from the coronavirus and which aims to hold accountable government officials involved in the country’s response, said the new revelations are “a stark mockery of the claims of Boris Johnson that he did not”. not breaking its own lockdown rules.

“His legacy is one of lying, complete disregard for the common people he was supposed to protect, and most importantly, leading the deaths of nearly 200,000 people,” the organization said in a statement on Twitter. “If he had any respect, he would quietly step back from public life and reflect on the pain and suffering he has caused.”