This is why Jeremy Corbyn’s brother has been fined £10,000 under new coronavirus laws
Piers Corbyn has become one of the first people to be landed with a £10,000 fine under newly-introduced coronavirus laws.
The hefty fine was awarded for breaking the law that restricts public gatherings of more than 30 people.
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Who is Piers Corbyn?
Piers Corbyn is the older brother of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
The 73-year-old weather forecaster and climate change denier is responsible for setting up the controversial weather forecasting business Weather Action, through which he sells his predictions.
Corbyn’s predictions are based on ‘The Solar Weather Technique’, which combines statistical analysis of more than a century of historical weather patterns, with clues derived from solar observations.
Why was he fined £10K?
Mr Corbyn was given a £10,000 fine for organising an anti-lockdown protest in central London on Saturday afternoon (29 August).
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The “Unite for Freedom” protest was held in Trafalgar Square and saw hundreds of protestors attend, some of whom displayed anti-mask and anti-vaccination placards, and claimed the virus was a “hoax” or “scam”.
Under new changes to regulations, those in attendance at a gathering of more than 30 people may be committing a criminal offence.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police handed out letters explaining the new legislation to demonstrators as they marched down Whitehall and later arrested Mr Corbyn for his part in organising the protest.
Mr Corbyn was informed on Sunday (30 August) that a fixed penalty notice would be issued for £10,000 for the offence of holding a gathering of more than 30 people in an outdoor place, the force confirmed.
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He has since been released from custody and described the demonstration as an “epic success” to his more than 31,000 Twitter followers.
Will he challenge the penalty?
Mr Corbyn said he was held for 10 hours by police and informed officers that both he and fellow organisers had filled out all of the necessary risk assessments to hold the event.
He also added that he had spent two weeks negotiating with Scotland Yard over the demonstration, and now plans to challenge the fixed penalty notice in court.
The aim of the protest was to call for the repeal of the Coronavirus Act, passed in March, which gave the government new powers.
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Mr Corbyn was also arrested in June and was charged with two counts of breaching coronavirus regulations after being pictured at a protest against 5G in Hyde Park on 16 May, and at another protest on 30 May.
He is due to appear in court on 23 October for a trial on the two counts of organising gatherings of more than two people who are not from the same household.
What did he say to Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain?
Mr Corbyn appeared on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday (1 September) morning after being arrested over the weekend for leading the anti-lockdown protest.
While on the show he challenged the existence of coronavirus, which eventually led to hosts Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid cutting him off for spreading “dangerous” misinformation.
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Mr Corbyn said he wanted to see evidence from the government which proved the existence of the disease and accused authorities of making the death figures up.
Piers Morgan hit back at the accusations, labelling it as “a load of conspiracy-theorist, whackjob nonsense”.
He said: “I’m afraid, what you are saying is an insult to the families of every single one of the 800,000 plus people who have died of a severe virus which has swept this planet.
“For you to come on national television and tell those families, ‘What killed your relative doesn’t exist,’ is a slap in the teeth.”
Mr Corbyn attempted to argue back but was cut off while he was still speaking.