Iain Duncan Smith warns PM against trying to cling to power if police find wrongdoing
A former Conservative leader has warned Boris Johnson that it will be difficult to hold onto power if the Metropolitan police finds he breached Covid rules.
Iain Duncan Smith, who was the leader of the party between 2001 and 2003, said the prime minister would find it “very tough” to hold onto his post if the force fine him.
“I think it would be very tough for anyone to remain after that," he told the i newspaper.
"If you’ve set the laws, and you break them and the police decide you have broken them… and then there’s the unredacted (Sue Gray) report – the two things will come together.”
His comments were similar to those made by Bob Neill, the Tory chair of the Commons justice committee, who said that the PM staying in his position after a potential breach of the law would be an unacceptable “double standard”.
He told Times Radio: “The regulations do create an offence for which you get a fixed penalty notice, (but) I think it will be very difficult for anyone to be in the position of the country’s principal lawmaker, and then break a law which they themselves had brought into force, and in particular, very much preached to other people to stick to. You can’t have double standards.”
The comments come after reports emerged earlier this week that Mr Johnson’s allies supposedly said he would refuse to stand down if the police inquiry finds he broke the law.
Downing Street confirmed on Friday that the PM had received the Met Police's questionnaire over allegations of lockdown-breaching parties.
It means Mr Johnson will have to provide a credible reason as to why he was at events held when Covid-19 restrictions were in place or face a fine.
The force said the questionnaire would ask for “an account and explanation of the recipient’s participation” in an event.
The police force is investigating 12 different events in No 10 and Whitehall over the course of 2020 and 2021 for possible breaches of Covid rules.
The prime minister is alleged to have been at up to six of them.
They include the “bring your own booze” party in the Downing Street garden in May 2020 attended by Mr Johnson and an alleged birthday party held for the prime minister a month later, both revealed by ITV News.
The Met is sending out formal legal questionnaires to more than 50 people believed to have taken part in gatherings at Downing Street.