‘Fine Corbyn for breaking Covid rules’ says Labour front bench MP

Jeremy Corbyn should be made to pay a £200 fine after he was caught breaching the government’s ‘rule of six’ coronavirus restrictions, a Labour frontbencher has said.

Shadow mental health minister Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (Tooting) said Corbyn’s actions were “inexcusable” after a photo of him at a dinner party with eight other people present was leaked to the S*n newspaper.

Mr Corbyn apologised for the breach and said he understood “remaining at the dinner” was a mistake. 

Under government rules, it is against the law to meet in groups of more than six people – inside or outside.

He now faces a £200 fine, which Ms Allin-Khan said he should be made to pay.

I’m disappointed,” she told Sky News. “I’m glad Jeremy Corbyn has apologised.  It is absolutely inexcusable to break the rules, the rules apply to everyone.  

“He rightly should be paying a fine, everybody should be fined that breaks the rules.”

The former deputy leadership hopeful and amateur boxer said the behaviour of Boris Johnson’s chief aide Dominic Cummings, who was accused of breaking lockdown rules in May, and the PM’s father Stanley Johnson, caught shopping without a mask, was also unacceptable. 

“Unfortunately people like Dominic Cummings don’t seem to have taken responsibility and we have also Boris Johnson’s own father walking in a shop without a mask. We all have a responsibility to adhere to the rules,” she said.

But former Tory health ministere Jeremy Hunt said he did not think Mr Corbyn should face a financial penalty.

“The first time round [breaking the rules] we should just be a little bit British, show some common sense.  I’m sure he won’t do it again, he has apologised,” he said. 

“My instinct is to show a little bit of lenience.”

• Jeremy Corbyn’s older brother, Piers, was recently fined £10,000 for organising a mass public protest against Covid crackdown laws.