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Politics
Kate Plummer
Apr 16, 2022
Boris Johnson promises to 'set record straight' on Partygate fine in parliament ...
Indy
One of Boris Johnson's allies compared the prospect of him receiving more fines over Partygate to speeding and it massively backfired.
This week Johnson and chancellor Rishi Sunak were both slapped with a £50 fine by the police for breaking lockdown rules by gathering in Downing Street in June 2020 briefly to celebrate Johnson's birthday. You know, the one where he was "ambushed with a cake". In doing so, he became the first sitting prime minister to be sanctioned by the police for breaking the law in office.
Since then, and given the police are still investigating 12 events alleged to have taken place in Downing Street while the country endured strict coronavirus restrictions, people have considered whether Johnson and other members of the government might be fined again.
But one ally, speaking anonymously to the i newspaper implied that if he was, this wouldn't be that much of a big deal, using this speeding analogy:
“If you’re caught speeding at 35mph four times, that doesn’t mean that you were speeding at 140mph. It doesn’t mean that you really endangered life because the cumulative effect of all your speeding in 30mph zones amounts to 140pmh, does it?”
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“It may be a neat mathematical trick, but it’s morally and legalistically not the case. And if you look at the nature of the event, when a guy steps into an office immediately outside his own for nine minutes, then it doesn’t mean that a second one goes over some new threshold, does it?”
But people pointed out that if you are caught speeding multiple times, the law doesn't treat each incident as isolated and if you build up 12 penalty points (with a minimum of 3 awarded for each incident) within a 3 year period, you could be disqualified from driving, perhaps because of the cumulative effect of the risk you pose by speeding so often...
The government's own website tell us just that.
Here's a taste of the reaction:
They really do think we are all thickhttps://twitter.com/paulwaugh/status/1515248809542135812\u00a0\u2026— Peter Stefanovic (@Peter Stefanovic) 1650103319
Not sure how well this has been thought through considering either one of these scenarios could lose you your driving licencehttps://twitter.com/paulwaugh/status/1515248809542135812\u00a0\u2026— Labour Press (@Labour Press) 1650105114
It probably means you lose your licencehttps://twitter.com/paulwaugh/status/1515248809542135812\u00a0\u2026— Chris Bryant (@Chris Bryant) 1650105189
No, but you would get a ban.https://twitter.com/paulwaugh/status/1515248809542135812\u00a0\u2026— THE SECRET TORY \ud83d\uddfd (@THE SECRET TORY \ud83d\uddfd) 1650104084
Boris Johnson: if I\u2019m speeding at 35mph it\u2019s not really speeding.\n\nCount Binface: if Boris Johnson has an 80-seat majority it\u2019s not really a majority.\n\nTherefore: General Election now.\n\n#MakeYourVoteCount— Count Binface (@Count Binface) 1650108235
So you\u2019d probably still get banned from driving? Point remains\u2026 govt ministers broke their own lawshttps://twitter.com/paulwaugh/status/1515248809542135812\u00a0\u2026— Rachel Wearmouth (@Rachel Wearmouth) 1650105364
s.35 Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 provides \u2018totting-up\u2019 which effectively means that if caught speeding \u201c35mph four times\u201d (in 3 years) a driver accumulates 12 or more active penalty points, the Court must impose an automatic disqualification (ban). #TotterJohnson #CriminalPMhttps://twitter.com/paulwaugh/status/1515248809542135812\u00a0\u2026— Karl Turner MP (@Karl Turner MP) 1650104046
It only means you ignored restrictions to protect you and the public 4 times, not 1.https://twitter.com/paulwaugh/status/1515248809542135812\u00a0\u2026— Eliot Higgins (@Eliot Higgins) 1650104267
If you are caught speeding 4 times in 3 years, the law operates to automatically disqualify you from driving, precisely *because* your cumulative conduct represents a danger to the public.\n\nIf No10 have any other inspired criminal law analogies they wish to try, I\u2019m here all day.https://twitter.com/paulwaugh/status/1515248809542135812\u00a0\u2026— The Secret Barrister (@The Secret Barrister) 1650101702
This argument contradicts the entire rationale put forward by Government for escalating fines for each subsequent offence- they really do think we are all foolshttps://twitter.com/paulwaugh/status/1515248809542135812\u00a0\u2026— Justin Madders MP (@Justin Madders MP) 1650108806
Speeding once at 35mph will get you 3 points\n\nSpeeding once at 140mph will get you 6 points\n\nSpeeding four times at 35mph will get you 12 points and lose your license\n\nIt\u2019s not that difficulthttps://twitter.com/paulwaugh/status/1515248809542135812\u00a0\u2026— DoinkadEgg Klombunny \ud83d\udc30 (@DoinkadEgg Klombunny \ud83d\udc30) 1650106914
If you're caught drink driving 4 times you'd probably be visiting a prison.\n\nCan we just send Johnson to prison \n\n#JohnsonOut82https://twitter.com/paulwaugh/status/1515248809542135812\u00a0\u2026— The Social Sciences \ud83d\udc99 \ud83d\udc9b (@The Social Sciences \ud83d\udc99 \ud83d\udc9b) 1650106948
Partygate's hangover continues...
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