Boris Johnson: Welsh secretary backs PM even if he is fined again

The Welsh Secretary Simon Hart says he does not think Boris Johnson should quit even if he is fined again.

Mr Hart said a leadership campaign would not be in the public interest.

Asked if the prime minister should quit if there are more fines for lockdown breaches, the cabinet minister said: "The principles are the same, whether it's going to be one fine or two".

A Tory peer resigned as a justice minister, later on Wednesday, over Covid-law breaking in Downing Street.

In his resignation letter Lord David Wolfson said the "scale, context and nature" of Covid breaches in government was inconsistent with the rule of law.

Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak have faced calls to quit since Tuesday.

The pair were fined for attending a birthday gathering for the prime minister in No. 10 Downing Street. Mr Johnson's wife, Carrie Johnson, was also fined.

All three apologised - Mr Johnson said he felt "an even greater sense of obligation to deliver", while the chancellor said he was "focused on delivering for the British people".

Politicians from other political parties, including Welsh Labour First Minister Mark Drakeford and Plaid Cymru's Liz Saville Roberts, called for the pair to quit when the news emerged on Tuesday.

"Very few say anybody who was at any of these parties... should instantly lose their career," the Tory MP for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire said.

• Johnson and Sunak reject calls to resign over fines

• The Covid rules when Downing Street parties were held

• Drakeford calls for PM to resign over partygate

Mr Hart said the fine was not a "resigning event".

"It is in everybody's estimation, including the PM's for that matter [that] this should never have happened.

"I think it's right that the fixed penalty notices [are] the appropriate sanction in these kinds of instances."

"But I don't think it automatically follows that anybody in public life should lose their job if they end up in this particular position."

Mr Hart said he did not want to see a "long, noisy leadership" process "at a critical time as far as our engagement in Ukraine is concerned".

"For me it doesn't seem to be in the public interest."

"The PM bitterly regretted this. Nobody is more frustrated than he for the mistakes which were made nearly two years ago."

Asked if the prime minister should go if there are more fines, he added: "The principles are the same, whether it's going to be one fine or two.

"Most people I speak to are irritated, annoyed... wanted an apology, wanted that reassurance that this sort of thing... the problems that may have led to this have been rectified.

"But very few say anybody who was at any of these parties, whatever their reason or excuse might have been, should instantly lose their career - very few people have made that demand of me."

Kim Teague was unable to visit her mother during lockdown

'They've gone too far'

In Usk, a Conservative stronghold and part of the Monmouth constituency, locals gave their views.

Kim Teague was unable to visit her mother, who has cancer, during lockdown.

"This time they've gone too far," she said.

"Even if they didn't deliberately think about it, they set the law and the whole country was trying to abide by it and they didn't."

Richard Hazleton called it "appalling", adding: "I think he should lose his job, I think he should be ousted."

However, Janet Bull believes the two should stay in post, saying: "There's just more important things going on, aren't there?"

She said the prime minister "can't have been the only one who broke the law".

Jill Williams agreed, adding: "He does seem to be at the forefront of what's going on with other leaders regarding Ukraine but he's on his last chance, he can't screw up again."

Nearly all cabinet ministers have publicly backed Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak - including Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who said they were "delivering for Britain on many fronts".

Nigel Mills is currently the only Tory MP known to have said publicly that Mr Johnson should go, telling BBC Radio Derby: "I don't think his position is tenable".

The fines follow a Metropolitan Police investigation into illegal parties held in Downing Street and across Whitehall during Covid lockdowns in 2020 and 2021.

The force is looking into 12 parties overall, and has already issued more than 50 fines, with more expected to come.

On Tuesday, Mr Drakeford said the prime minister was either "stupid" when he told the Commons he had done nothing wrong, or "knew that what he was saying was untrue".

Both the prime minister and his chancellor had "lost any form of authority to carry on and they should go", he said.

The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru group said it was "frankly unbelievable to think that the [UK government] were partying whilst we were living through our darkest times".

Liz Saville Roberts, Plaid Cymru leader in the House of Commons, said she was "appalled at the sheer bad judgement" due to an "arrogant sense of exceptionalism and a belief in their own entitlement".

"If they have any honour they will resign," she said.