The National:

HE’S at it again. Stanley Johnson simply can’t be bothered sticking to the rules like the rest of us plebs.

The Prime Minister’s father has been photographed without a face mask while buying a newspaper in a London newsagents.

It’s not as bad as it sounds, though, because Stanley was caught unaware having just returned from a three-week trip abroad.

He told the Mirror: “I was maybe not 100% up to speed but that was my first day back in England after three weeks not in England.

“So they [the rules] may have changed in that time. I’m not really a big shopping man.

“I’m extremely sorry for the slip up and I would urge absolutely everybody to do everything they can to make sure they do follow the rules about masks and social distancing.

“The fact this was my first day back in the UK after three weeks abroad is, I am sure, no excuse for not knowing the rules.”

That surely won’t wash with the Prime Minister, who was reported last week to have told the Cabinet he was looking to make a “high-profile example of anyone who flouted the new rules”.

And yesterday, he warned the public at his televised briefing to wear a face covering to protect their loved ones.

Masks became mandatory in English shops on July 24 (hint: more than three weeks ago), and it had been advised since mid-May. Those who flout the rules face fines of £200 after they were bumped up last week as part of new hardline measures.

READ MORE: Jeremy Corbyn apologises for breaking Covid-19 rules at dinner for nine

Fortunately for Stanley, his son’s government seems to be taking a relaxed approach to the hardline measures.

Environment Secretary George Eustice was pressed on the matter as it emerged Jeremy Corbyn had also broken the coronavirus rules.

Eustice explained that just because the new penalties are in place doesn’t mean they should actually be imposed. He told Sky News it doesn’t mean there “should be a penalty in every case”, adding: "Sometimes it can be a warning, sometimes people make mistakes and apologise for it."

READ MORE: Boris Johnson's dad Stanley flouts essential travel rules on Greece trip

Stanley can consider himself well and truly warned now, having already broken lockdown guidance on several occasions.

In July he defended his decision to travel to Greece in defiance of Foreign Office guidance to avoid non-essential travel.

He also admitted breaking lockdown rules when he went out to buy a newspaper after his grandchild was born in April, stating he was “not sure it’s an essential journey”, and also indicated in March that he would ignore the Government’s advice and go to the pub.

One for rule for them, another for us.