The UK government’s Cabinet Office has referred former Prime Minister Boris Johnson to two regional police forces for allegedly breaking lockdown rules during the COVID-19 pandemic. The referral was made after information was discovered while preparing submissions for a public inquiry into the pandemic. The ministerial diaries showed visits by friends to Chequers, a rural country mansion made available to sitting prime ministers during the pandemic. Johnson’s team called the referral a “clearly politically motivated attempt to manufacture something out of nothing”. The Cabinet Office stated that the material has been passed onto the relevant authorities and it is now a matter for them.
