Over 400,000 people have signed a petition in a bid to get Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak to resign.
On Tuesday, 12 April, Johnson and Sunak received fines following the Metropolitan Police's investigation into the multiple parties that took place at 10 Downing Street despite the UK being under strict coronavirus regulations.
While both senior politicians have also issued apologies, a petition has since been started, calling for both Johnson and Sunak to step down from their political positions.
As of today, 14 April, the petition has already surpassed 400,000 signatures.
Petition · Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak broke the law. They have to resign. #Partygate
— NHS Workers Say NO! (@NurseSayNO) April 13, 2022
Have you signed and shared this petition??? If not, do it now!
Started by our @MatthewTovey2 NHS Workers Say No activist! #ThePartysOver https://t.co/fQOzVAzG3b
At the time of writing - just two days since the fines were first announced - the petition has already received (at the time of writing) 417,705 signatures, with people taking to the form within seconds of one another.
The petition was first started by NHS nurse Matthew Tovey, who was 'working 12 hours shifts in the NHS - in full PPE - in the corridors of hospitals that had started to resemble battlefields,' as 'No.10 were partying in the Downing Street gardens'.
He wrote: "Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the UK, and Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, were today issued fines for breaking lockdown regulations. Boris Johnson is believed to be the first Prime Minister to have broken the law whilst in office.
"I do not believe that anyone who breaks the law should be allowed to remain Prime Minister or Chancellor."
The UK is calling for the resignation of @BorisJohnson and @RishiSunak.
— Matthew Tovey 🏳️🌈 (@MatthewTovey2) April 13, 2022
We have had more than quarter of a million signatures in less than 24 hours with signatures added every second. Let's send a clear message to @10DowningStreet @Conservatives https://t.co/dWwx4Aa7Wq @UKChang. pic.twitter.com/4rjVw1FRSA
Tovey reflected on 'struggling to save lives' with his colleagues in May 2020.
"There were too many patients and nowhere near enough staff. Boris Johnson has said that Downing Street was full of 'people working phenomenally hard under phenomenal strain'.
"I do not believe that in 2020 their jobs were more stressful than our jobs, on the front lines. I do not understand why this means they were allowed to break the rules whilst myself, and my colleagues, worked hard to keep people safe," Tovey stated.
#ThePartysOver @BorisJohnson @RishiSunak #Resign please. Remove yourselves and your corrupt, criminal, authoritarian government. You are the oligarchs of the West.
— Len Arthur (@lenarthur2) April 13, 2022
The NHS nurse concluded by emphasising how 'while members of this Government were partying and drinking,' he and his colleagues 'were at the coalface, saving people's lives'.
He said: "It was a horrible time. We weren’t thinking about partying. We were just missing our families. It was so stressful and there was nothing we could do to make things better.
"Please sign my petition today if you agree with me that Prime Ministers and Chancellors should not be allowed to break the law and remain in office."
A lot of people lost their parents. Other their siblings. Other people lost their partners. So many lost their children.
— Stacey (@scrookie159) April 13, 2022
The only losses now should be that of both @BorisJohnson 's and @RishiSunak 's jobs.#ThePartysOver
Giving their 'reasons for signing,' many members of the public echoed Tovey's anger.
One questioned how Johnson, Sunak or the rest of the conservative party can ever 'be trusted' again. "Lie after lie a rule for us and a totally different rule for them! [...] Totally disgusting," they said
"Liars and cheats shouldn't be allowed to govern. #ToriesPartiedWhilePeopleDied," another wrote.
A third commented: "I'm signing because I mourned my dead mother ALONE despite my desperation for comfort as disgusting people partied."
This ‘it was just a cake for 10 minutes’ line has to stop.
— Louise Dillon 🎗️ (@dontlookdown_FB) April 13, 2022
This was Fred’s 14th birthday. His brother, his friends weren’t allowed to ‘pop in’. My husband was allowed to be with us, for the first time in over a week.
Fred died a week later. #partygate pic.twitter.com/fVJFmaEMA0
Change.org noted that if the petition reaches half-a-million signatures it will become 'one of the top signed' on its site.
However, the petition won't be discussed in parliament even despite having passed the threshold because of it being on Change.org opposed to the official UK Government and Parliament website.
'Petitions calling for someone to resign and petitions asking for a vote of no confidence in an individual minister or the Government as a whole,' are also not allowed by the Government.
A similar petition sent to the official UK Government and Parliament website was subsequently rejected.
Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Topics: Boris Johnson, UK News, Politics, Rishi Sunak, Coronavirus
