British Prime Minister Boris Johnson refused to step down after he was fined for violating the government's coronavirus lockdown rules, AP reports.

London police have fined Johnson, his wife, the Treasury Secretary and others for attending the Prime Minister's birthday party at his Downing Street office on 19 June 2020. Johnson became the first British prime minister ever caught breaking the law while in office.

Gatherings of more than two people were banned in the UK at the time due to the spread of the coronavirus.

“I have paid the fine and want to offer a full apology,” Johnson said. “I understand the anger many will feel that I myself fell short when it came to observing the very rules which the government I lead had introduced to protect the public. I accept in all sincerity that people had the right to expect better.”

Opposition MPs demanded Johnson's resignation, arguing that the fines imposed on him and Treasury Secretary Rishi Sunak showed the government was criminal. The opposition argued that the Downing Street party showed that Johnson and his supporters felt the rules did not apply to them.