A Tory MP denied comparing Covid breaches to a ‘parking fine’ and it didn’t end well

Poke Staff. Updated February 3rd, 2022

Conservative MP Mark Jenkinson caused something of a stir yesterday when he appeared to compare fixed penalty notices for Covid breaches – the sort of thing Boris Johnson is being investigated for – to a parking fine.

Well, that was certainly the impression lots of people got including ITV’s political editor, Robert Peston.

The argument from some Tory MPs – @markjenkinsonmp just now on @itvnews – that breaching Covid rules is equivalent to parking on a double yellow line is odd. They can’t think the threat to life from anti-social parking is the same as failing to limit the spread of a virus…

— Robert Peston (@Peston) February 1, 2022

that killed more than 150,000

— Robert Peston (@Peston) February 1, 2022

It raised lots of eyebrows as you might imagine, including this, from Dr Zubaida Haque, a member of Independent Sage.

'Breaching covid rules is equivalent to parking on a double yellow line': over 176,000 covid deaths – many without loved ones present. 3.7million vulnerable people STILL shielding. And >1.3million with #LongCovid. How is that equivalent to parking on a double yellow line? https://t.co/MdGqPUKVZe

— Dr Zubaida Haque (@Zubhaque) February 2, 2022

And this response from author and mathematical biologist, Kit Yates.

No @markjenkinsonmp breaking covid rules is not the equivalent of getting a parking ticket.

You don't spread a deadly virus parking on a double yellow.

You don't put the most vulnerable in our society in peril by parking on a double yellow.https://t.co/nBMSyXRlcA

— Kit Yates (@Kit_Yates_Maths) February 3, 2022

Which we only mention because Jenkinson, the Tory MP for Workington, was at pains to point out that he’d done nothing of the sort and let Kit know in no uncertain terms (check out the inverted commas).

👋 Hi Kit. As a ‘maths teacher’ I would have thought a rational, fact-based approach would be kinda your thing.

Reading past the headline of a deliberately hostile ‘news provider’ (you, @CumbriaCrack) would be a start.

But whatever gets you by…

👉 TLDR; I did no such thing. https://t.co/iQ8ejb2Tct

— Mark Jenkinson MP (@markjenkinsonmp) February 3, 2022

As much as it suits the agenda of some, I didn’t ‘compare breaking covid rules with getting a parking ticket.

— Mark Jenkinson MP (@markjenkinsonmp) February 3, 2022

I was asked if the Prime Minister should resign if he got a fixed penalty notice, and I turned the question round to the interviewer and asked if they’d be asking me that if the PM had got a speeding ticket or had parked on a red line – which of course they wouldn’t.

— Mark Jenkinson MP (@markjenkinsonmp) February 3, 2022

Fixed Penalty Notices are given out for prescribes minor breaches of law. They’re not fines, convictions or proof of guilt – all of which can only be handed out or determined by a court.

I know we’ve descended into a political fake news cesspit, but facts matter.

— Mark Jenkinson MP (@markjenkinsonmp) February 3, 2022

Except it’s fair to say we’re not sure we’re any the wiser.

In which a Conservative MP contradicts himself in the course of two tweets within one minute. pic.twitter.com/d2Lwesynto

— Tom Hamilton (@thhamilton) February 3, 2022

Genuinely, what? "It wasn't a comparison it was an analogy"… what?

— Tom Hamilton (@thhamilton) February 3, 2022

"I said speeding ticket, not parking ticket. Please get this right, facts matter"

— Michael Deacon (@MichaelPDeacon) February 3, 2022

And also this, from human rights barrister Adam Wagner.

This is wrong. A fixed penalty notice can only be given if the police *reasonably believe someone has committed a criminal offence* under the coronavirus regulations. They are not minor. On the contrary, the PM and government spent 2 years telling us they were deadly serious https://t.co/J2U7QhjOiO

— Adam Wagner (@AdamWagner1) February 3, 2022

Source Twitter @thhamilton