MPs seek Parliament recall as PM and Chancellor fined over lockdown breaches

Cross-party MPs want Parliament to be recalled after the announcement that both Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak are due to be issued with fixed penalty notices over breaches of Covid-19 regulations.

Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP backed calls for a Parliament recall as No 10 confirmed the Prime Minister will receive a fine for attending a gathering in the Cabinet Room on June 19 2020.

The disclosures come during Parliament’s Easter recess.

MPs are currently due to return on April 19, but opposition parties have backed calls for Parliament to be recalled in light of the fines in order to grill the Prime Minister and the Chancellor.

A Labour party spokesperson said: “Boris Johnson promised he would give a statement to the House of Commons, so we want to hear from the Prime Minister at the earliest possible opportunity to give him the chance to correct his lies and tender his resignation.

“Obviously it is only the Government who actually has the power to ask the Speaker to recall Parliament.”

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey tweeted: “This is a Government in crisis neglecting a country in crisis.

“Parliament must be recalled for a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister.”

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford wrote to the Prime Minister asking him to recall Parliament on April 14 and to provide the Commons with a statement of his resignation, followed by one from the Chancellor.

In the letter published on Twitter, Mr Blackford said: “You are the first sitting Prime Minister in history to have been officially found to have broken the law. Dignity demands that you now do the right thing and resign.

“The process for your resignation must be swift. You should immediately request that the Speaker of the House of Commons recalls Parliament this Thursday April 14; provide the House of Commons with a statement of your resignation; your Chancellor should follow your resignation, with a resignation statement of his own; finally publish the Sue Gray report in full.”

Despite the calls that Parliament should be recalled to debate the fines relating to the Covid-19 lockdown breaches, a recall is unlikely to happen as only the Government is able to ask for one.

The official Parliament website says “the Government can ask the Speaker to recall the House of Commons because of events of major national importance”.

It then falls to the Commons Speaker to decide whether or not it is in the public interest to recall Parliament.

The Speaker cannot decide to recall the Commons without being asked to do so by the Government.