"He’s a proven liar": 20 fines issued by Metropolitan Police over Downing Street parties

Twenty fixed penalty notices will be issued for breaches of Covid rules after allegations of lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street, Scotland Yard has said.

The Metropolitan Police have said that after the fines have been issued, those who received them would not be named publicly, according to the professional practice guidance for fixed penalty notices.

It added more referrals may be made in the future.

In a statement, Scotland Yard said: “The investigation into allegations of breaches of COVID-19 regulations in Whitehall and Downing Street has now progressed to the point where the first referrals for fixed penalty notices (FPN) will be made to ACRO Criminal Records Office.

“We will today initially begin to refer 20 fixed penalty notices to be issued for breaches of Covid-19 regulations. The ACRO Criminal Records Office will then be responsible for issuing the FPNs to the individual following the referrals from the MPS.

“We are making every effort to progress this investigation at speed and have completed a number of assessments. However due to the significant amount of investigative material that remains to be assessed, further referrals may be made to ACRO if the evidential threshold is made.”

The events being investigated include 12 in 2020 and 2021, six of which Prime Minister Boris Johnson is said to have attended.

The Metropolitan Police said it had obtained more than 300 photographs and 500 pages of documents, stemming from a Whitehall inquiry by the senior civil servant Sue Gray.

The Downing Street gatherings included a summer drinks party where attenders were invited to “bring your own booze”, leaving dos for civil servants, Christmas parties, and an alleged gathering in Johnson’s flat.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokeswoman Allegra Stratton laughs as she confirms a staff Christmas party was held at Number 10 footage of which was leaked to ITV News.

No 10 has promised to reveal if the prime minister receives a fine but has so far declined to say whether he has been interviewed by police.

Charities and opposition parties have renewed calls for Johnson to resign, as well as Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who was also issued with a police questionnaire about lockdown gatherings.

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner said the partygate saga had been a “slap in the face” for the public after fixed penalty notices were issued by the Metropolitan Police.

She said: “After over two months of police time, 12 parties investigated and over a hundred people questioned under caution, Boris Johnson’s Downing Street has been found guilty of breaking the law.

“The culture is set from the very top. The buck stops with the Prime Minister, who spent months lying to the British public, which is why he has got to go.

“It is disgraceful that while the rest of the country followed their rules, Boris Johnson’s Government acted like they did not apply to them.

“This has been a slap in the face of the millions of people who made huge sacrifices.”

Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting tweeted: “Fines issued by the Police for parties in Downing Street that broke the lockdown rules.

“According to Boris Johnson these were the parties that never happened. He’s a proven liar and lied repeatedly to the House of Commons and the country.”

The Liberal Democrats also said the breaches within Downing Street should mean Johnson should resign or be sacked from office.

Fines issued by the Police for parties in Downing Street that broke the lockdown rules.

According to Boris Johnson these were the parties that never happened.

He’s a proven liar and lied repeatedly to the House of Commons and the country.

— Wes Streeting MP (@wesstreeting) March 29, 2022

Lib Dem leader, Ed Davey, said: “If Boris Johnson thinks he can get away with Partygate by paying expensive lawyers and throwing junior staff to the wolves, he is wrong.

“We all know who is responsible. The prime minister must resign, or Conservative MPs must sack him.”

A campaign group for bereaved relatives of people who died with coronavirus has condemned Downing Street and the drawn-out process of issuing fixed penalty notices for its lockdown breaches, adding that the Prime Minister “should have resigned months ago”.

“A year ago today, bereaved families from across the UK drew the first hearts on the National Covid Memorial Wall,” Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice said in a written statement.

“One heart for every life lost to the virus. A year on, far from offering closure, the Prime Minister’s team are being fined for breaking their own rules regularly and blatantly.

“The same rules that families across the country stuck with even when they suffered terribly as a consequence.

“It’s crystal clear now that whilst the British Public rose to the challenge of making enormous sacrifices to protect their loved ones and their communities, those at 10 Downing Street failed.

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“Frankly, bereaved families have seen enough. The PM should have resigned months ago over this. By dragging it out longer all he is doing is pouring more salt on the wounds of those who have already suffered so much.”

Johnson has also faced backlash from those in his own party, with several Conservative MPs voicing their condemnation and five senior aides quitting over the findings.

At prime minister’s questions in December 2021, Johnson said “all guidance was followed completely in No 10”.

After a leaked video to ITV showed staff including Allegra Stratton, a senior government spokesperson, joking about having cheese and wine, he apologised for the “impression it gives” but said: “I have been repeatedly assured since these allegations emerged, that there was no party and that no Covid rules were broken.”