Police conclude Partygate investigation into Downing Street gatherings
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Loading... - Gregory Jones
- 19 May 2022
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The Metropolitan police have completed their investigation into lockdown-breaching parties in Downing Street and Whitehall, and issued a total of 126 fixed-penalty notices, the force has announced.
Boris Johnson had not yet received notice of any more fines, No 10 sources said. He received one fixed-penalty notice last month, for attending his own birthday party. His wife, Carrie, is also not among those to be fined again, it is understood.
The Met said it had imposed fines for events on eight dates. However, on several of these, more than one event took place. The Met said that of the 12 events referred to it for investigation, “all resulted or will do so in a FPN being issued”.
While Johnson receiving just one fine would seemingly limit the prospect of moves by Tory MPs to oust him, he now faces publication of the full report into illicit gatherings by the senior civil servant Sue Gray, which officials say will be published next week.
A brief, interim version of Gray’s report was published, but the full details were delayed for the police investigation. Gray has had access to significant amounts of information including photos of events, thought it seems unlikely these will be released.
Of the 126 fines, 53 involved men and 73 women, with some people receiving more than one fixed-penalty notice. The Met has not identified any of the people fined, although Downing Street pledged to say if Johnson or the cabinet secretary, Simon Case, were penalised.
The Met’s acting deputy commissioner, Helen Ball, said that 28 people had received multiple penalties, ranging from two to five fines each. She said 97 fines had so far been paid, and none of those outstanding were beyond the 28-day period people have to pay.
Ball said police had no objection to the full Gray report now being released.
Johnson and the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, were among people fined for attending a brief birthday party for the prime minister in the cabinet room on 19 June 2020.
Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, said the concluded investigation showed Downing Street “was fined more times for breaking Covid laws than any other address in the country”.
He said: “It exposes a shocking level of criminality at the heart of Johnson’s No 10. It beggars belief that Conservative MPs are allowing our great country to be run by a prime minister who broke the law then repeatedly lied about it.” Read More...
