More fixed penalty notices have been issued to those who went to a party for the Covid taskforce chief who literally wrote the rules on what the public could do during lockdown.
Partygate fines continue to be handed out to those in attendance of the ‘boozy’ leaving party of director-general of the Cabinet Office’s Covid-19 Taskforce, Kate Josephs, which took place on 17 December 2020.
Ms Josephs was in charge of creating the detailed rules which completely dictated the lives of the Great British public during the height of the pandemic.
It is not yet known if Ms Josephs has been fined.
The Cabinet Office event, where alcohol was served, saw dozens of government officials breaking lockdown rules at a time when people were banned from socialising indoors with people who were outside of their household or support bubble.
The country was in regional lockdowns with a tiered system having been introduced that same month, with Londoners in tier 3, also limited to no mixing indoors or outdoors and a maximum of six in some outdoor public places.
These latest fines mean that three of the dozen ‘partygate’ events investigated by the Metropolitan Police have now been covered, with 20 total fines having been issued, says Scotland Yard.
Partygate fines continue to be handed out to those in attendance of the ‘boozy’ leaving party of director-general of the Cabinet Office’s Covid-19 Taskforce, Kate Josephs, pictured, who literally wrote the rules on the public’s limitations during lockdown, which took place on 17 December 2020. It is not yet known if Ms Josephs has been fined
Fixed penalty notices have also been issued for the drinks at Downing Street held on the eve of the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral in April 2021, and another leaving do for an aide at No 10 in June 2020.
The night before Prince Philip’s funeral, where the Queen was set apart from her family because of social distancing, Downing Street staff danced in the basement and drank in the garden, boozing so ‘excessively’ that one person was sent to a nearby Co-op with a suitcase on wheels to fill with wine, beer and spirits.
There was even a disco where staff DJed and it became so raucous that one attendee broke baby Wilfred Johnson’s swing set, according to the Telegraph.
A source who worked with Ms Josephs told The Telegraph: ‘She literally wrote the rules’, with another revealing the event was ‘boozy’.
Now chief executive of Sheffield City Council, Ms Josephs, an Oxford University graduate, said in her public apology earlier this year: ‘I am truly sorry that I did this and for the anger that people will feel as a result.’
Ms Josephs, who was made a Companion of the order of the Bath for public service in the Queen’s Birthday honours in 2021, said she and colleagues who had been working assembled for drinks in the evening.
She shared a picture on her Twitter page the day after the booze-up, writing: ‘Last day today, extremely hard to leave the incredible colleagues who make up the covid taskforce, it has been an honour and a privilege to serve alongside them.’
She shared a photo on her Twitter page the day after the booze-up (pictured), writing: ‘Last day today, extremely hard to leave the incredible colleagues who make up the covid taskforce, it has been an honour and a privilege to serve alongside them’
The public are not going to be told of the names of those who are receiving fines in relation to Partygate gatherings, nor the specific occasions they are in relation to, the Metropolitan Police have said.
The first person to be publicly named for being fined over an alcohol-fuelled leaving party was Helen MacNamara, the former head of ethics and deputy cabinet secretary, who now works as director of policy and corporate affairs at the Premier League.
In her public statement apologising to the public on Monday, relating to the get-together she attended for No 10 aide Hannah Young who was moving to New York to join the staff at the British Consulate General, she said: ‘I am sorry for the error of judgment I have shown. I have accepted and paid the fixed penalty notice.’
Former Deputy Cabinet Secretary Helen MacNamara was handed a £50 fine after police investigators found she had breached Covid laws by attending a ‘raucous’ lockdown karaoke party where there was a drunken brawl, reports from The Telegraph claim.
The Prime Minister is understood to have not attended any of the three parties.Boris Johnson is not believed to have attended any of the three gatherings.
Downing Street spokesmen have said they will confirm in public if Mr Johnson, who attended other events being investigated, is fined.
