News - Middle East: The British government says Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Finance Minister Rishi Sunak will be fined by police for attending parties in Downing Street during COVID-19 lockdowns.

A government statement confirmed on Tuesday that the two had received notification of the fines from the British police.
 
Some media reports said that the PM's wife, Carrie Johnson, would also be given a fixed penalty notice.

The London Metropolitan Police (Met) earlier said in a statement that more than 50 fixed penalty notices had been issued as of Tuesday. "The investigation into allegations of breaches of Covid-19 regulations in Whitehall and Downing Street continues to progress."

Downing Street has been refusing to say that the issuing of the fines represents proof of criminality. Two cabinet ministers, Justice Secretary Dominic Raab and International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan, have conceded that the penalties meant laws were broken.

In response to the developments, leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said, "These fines expose the shocking scale of the criminality in Boris Johnson's Number 10."

"The police have now completely shredded Johnson's claims that no laws were broken. He cannot be trusted and cannot continue as prime minister. "No other leader in any other organization would be allowed to continue after law-breaking on this scale. If Boris Johnson won't resign, Conservative MPs must show him the door," he said.