Karen Bradley on Downing Street covid fines

Karen Bradley has spoken out following the fines issued to Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak for breaching covid restriction.

My constituents know that I have been clear that those that make the rules must not break them, whether intentionally or otherwise. The public are right to expect the highest standards of behaviour from their leaders. I am proud of the British values of democracy, individual liberty, mutual respect, tolerance and the rule of law and have been privileged to promote those values around the world as an MP and during my time as a Government Minister. But we will lose the right to promote those values if we do not uphold them ourselves. There is still much that we do not know about what happened in Downing Street during the pandemic and I urge the Government to provide all information as soon as possible so that fair judgements can be made.

Whilst law breaking in Downing Street is unforgivable, I am very aware that Europe is in a precarious position and that we all need to act responsibly so as to not make the situation worse.

I will spend the next few days consulting my constituents and will decide on what action to take after listening to them. But I do wish to make it clear that if I had been a Minister found to have broken the laws that I passed, I would be tendering my resignation now