Labour call for publication of those fined in Partygate probe

Labour leader Keir Starmer has said all top officials issued fixed penalty notices for attending lockdown-defying gatherings in Downing street and Whitehall must publicly admit their fines.

His remarks come after last night’s reports from the Guardian newspaper, that fixed penalty notices have been issued to staff who attended a Downing Street party on the eve of Prince Phillip’s funeral.

Sir Keir argued that the government has been “taking the public for fools yet again”.

“I think it is very important that the prime minister makes sure that all those who are given fines, certainly in senior positions, are named.

“We seem to be going through this process where instant by instant, fines are coming out but the public are being left in the dark. The public complied with the rules. They are entitled to know who didn’t comply with the rules and what is going on,” he went on.

“If the prime minister wants to come to parliament and tell us that he was repeatedly lied to by his own advisers then let him do that.

“The idea that he had no idea what was going on in his home and his office and he only gave answers because he was lied to by his officials is a case he needs to make. I would like to see him make that case because I don’t think he can.”