Met probe FIFTY Downing St staff
Because they’ve got so little else to do, police reveal in one afternoon...
■ Extent of Operation Hillman inquiry into ‘parties’ – with PM likely to be quizzed
■ Officers will look again at Wallpapergate
■ ...and after this photo, they’ll review decision not to probe quiz night
MORE than 50 people face being fined for attending lockdown-busting parties in Whitehall, Scotland Yard said last night – as the force made three interventions relating to Downing Street’s affairs.
The Metropolitan Police said detectives investigating alleged breaches of coronavirus regulations would begin contacting those believed to have attended parties before the end of the week.
The force said it would send formal questionnaires to more than 50 people in relation to eight dates – including Boris Johnson’s birthday and the day of a ‘bring your own booze’ event in the No10 garden.
Mr Johnson is believed to have attended several of the events on the dates the police are investigating, therefore it seems likely he could receive a questionnaire. Downing Street last night declined to add to its previous statements on the issue.
In its update on the progress of what is now called Operation Hillman, the force said the questionnaire would ask for ‘an account and explanation of the recipient’s participation’ in an event which is the subject of police inquiries.
Recipients will be advised that the questionnaire had ‘formal legal status’ and their response was required within seven days. In most cases the contact will be by email.
‘It should be noted that being contacted does not mean a fixedpenalty notice will necessarily be issued to that person,’ the Met said. ‘Nevertheless, if following an investigation, officers believe it is appropriate because the Covid regulations have been breached without a reasonable excuse, a fixed-penalty notice will normally be issued.
‘We understand the interest in and impact of this case, and are progressing the investigation at pace. We are committed to completing our investigations proportionately, fairly and impartially.’
The announcement came after the Met Police said it was looking at widening its inquiries to cover a quiz night in No10 in December 2020 after a photograph emerged of the PM near a bottle of prosecco and a half-eaten packet of crisps.
Officers said they were also considering a request from the Labour Party for them to look into the funding of Mr Johnson’s Downing Street flat renovation.
Solicitors on behalf of Labour were reported to have written to Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick last week, suggesting the force was ‘duty-bound’ to begin a formal investigation.
They said the Prime Minister may have acted improperly by having ‘linked’ a request for funds to cover the refurbishment works with a promise to ‘promote a project’ backed by the benefactor.
A Met spokesman said a letter had been ‘received and acknowledged’ and was being considered – but no formal investigation had been opened.
The decision last month by the Met Police to launch its investigation into Partygate prevented the publication of a report by Sue Gray into the events. The senior civil servant said it had stopped her from providing a ‘meaningful report’ on what happened.
She was forced to publish a scaled-down version of her findings into what happened after the police asked her to make only ‘minimal reference’ to the gatherings it was investigating.
In the 12-page document – which did not include any details or names – Miss Gray said it was ‘not possible at present to provide a meaningful report’ setting out all she discovered, due to the police investigation.
She wrote: ‘As a result of the Metropolitan Police’s investigations, and so as not to prejudice the police investigative process, they have told me that it would only be appropriate to make minimal reference to the gatherings on the dates they are investigating. Unfortunately, this necessarily means that I am extremely limited in what I can say about those events.’
The Daily Mail understands Miss Gray has already drafted a longer report setting out what happened at each of the parties, ready to be dusted off once the police investigation is finished. At Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, Mr Johnson told MPs that ‘as soon as all the inquiries are concluded I will immediately publish in full whatever Sue Gray gives me’.
In another statement, Scotland Yard said officers were not investigating allegations that No 10 blackwho mailed MPs seeking to remove Mr Johnson from office.
The force said ‘no criminal offences have been identified’ after officers spoke to senior Tory William Wragg about his claims. Mr Wragg said Downing Street staff and ministers had been ‘encouraging the publication of stories in the press seeking to embarrass those they suspect of lacking confidence in the Prime Minister’.
The backbencher, who chairs the Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee, said the allegations ‘seem to constitute blackmail’.
Meanwhile, newly appointed Commons leader Mark Spencer insisted people in the ‘real world’ did not care about parties held in Downing Street during lockdown.
Mr Spencer, who had been chief whip until this week, told BBC Radio Nottingham: ‘When you get out into the real world and you talk to real people, my experience is they are saying to me, “you know what really matters to me is the cost of my energy bills, the NHS backlog post-Covid, making sure the economy is growing and my job is secure”.
‘It’s fair to say Downing Street didn’t get everything right but let’s focus on the real world here.’
‘Proportionately and impartially’
‘Let’s focus on the real world’