The Prime Minister has found himself in hot water after he used PMQs today to claim that Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak had criminal convictions.
Amid a barrage of questions from Kemi Badenoch around Louise Haigh’s sacking last Friday, the PM attempted to imply the Tories were being hypocritical.
Ms Haigh, who it emerged had a criminal conviction for fraud prior to becoming an MP, stepped down as Transport Secretary last week.
Ms Badenoch demanded further answers, and said voters need an explanation.
She joked: “The country needs conviction politicians, not politicians with convictions.”
In his reply, Keir Starmer claimed: “I gently remind her that two of her predecessors had convictions for breaking the Covid rules!”
While Labour MPs enjoyed the return fire, the former Director of Prosecutions appeared to forget that receiving a Fixed Penalty Notice is not the same as being convicted.
The Government’s own website regarding criminal records when finding a job explains: “Fixed Penalty Notices… are fines for minor offences”.
“They will not appear on your criminal record unless a court gives you a conviction because of one.”
Misleading the House of Commons is against MP rules, and if unintentional should be corrected by the MP in the official record.
Speaking after PMQs, Ms Badenoch’s official spokesman said: “It is important to point out that fixed penalty notices are not criminal convictions.”
Boris Johnson, who was ousted from the Commons after Harriet Harman’s committee decided he had misled MPs over Partygate, has now hit out at the Prime Minister’s untruth.
He fumed: “The Prime Minister has clearly misled the House and should correct the record today.”
A Labour source meanwhile has told the Express: “If the Conservatives want to have a row about the extent of their criminality while in Downing Street that’s fine by us.”
“The fact is two of the leader of the opposition’s predecessors were found guilty of breaking the law with partying in Downing Street while telling everyone else to follow the rules, something the leader of the opposition said a few weeks ago was ‘overblown’.
“She might want to retract that statement.”
The PM refused to give any further details around Louise Haigh’s resignation, merely saying she had gone after “new information came to light”.
Asked by the Tory leader what those facts were, Sir Keir replied: “I’m not going to disclose private information.”
