Partygate is not about cake – it’s about the breaking of laws that were intended to save lives

Editorial: We do not need to wait any longer for confirmation that the laws framed in Downing Street were ignored by those who wrote them, argued for them – and subjected the rest of the population to painful restrictions

We can’t yet say who broke the law, but we know it happened on the prime minister’s watch (Reuters)

After months of obfuscation, delays, excuses, lies, more delays and the elevation of Sue Gray into the nearest thing to superstardom that the British civil service can offer, we now know one thing for sure: the law was broken during the Partygate affair.

The fixed penalty notices, around 20 of them, now being issued by the authorities, aren’t some sort of exercise in partisan spite – or part of a “Remoaner” conspiracy. They are not “fluff”. They are not about cake. They’ve been issued because the police and the criminal justice system judges that laws intended to protect public health and save lives were broken.

They were broken, blatantly, by certain named (though presently anonymous) individuals; and the crimes were committed in and around Downing Street and the Cabinet Office. The indications are that the prime minister is not one of those in this first tranche of fines, but he may figure in future.