Starmer blasts Met over fines
LABOUR leader Keir Starmer yesterday launched a scathing attack on the Met Police for refusing to reveal how many Partygate fines they are giving out.
The force says it will continue issuing fixedpenalty notices for up to 12 parties at No10 but will not give updates for at least 13 days – when voting in local elections is over.
Mr Starmer said: “They should continue to take their decisions and make those decisions public as they were before.
“And the PM must disclose if he gets further fines.
“Criminal charges are brought all the time, elections or no elections.
“It’s in the public interest to know who has received fines, particularly those high up in Government.”
It is understood that penalties for the bring-yourown-bottle event on May 20, 2020, began dropping in inboxes on Friday. The PM arrived at that party – which he insists was a “work event” – at 6pm, stayed for 25 minutes and then disappeared for a call with the Queen. But No10 says that so far, he has received no fine beyond the one 13 days ago for his birthday party on June 19, 2020.
As Parliament goes into meltdown over Partygate, Jeremy Hunt is now emerging as the favourite among Tory MPS to become the next PM.
The leadership challengers he must see off include Foreign
Secretary Liz Truss, left, and Foreign Affairs Committee chair Tom Tugendhat.
Bookies give Mr Hunt odds of 5/1 to land the top job, Mr Tugendhat 13/2 and Ms Truss 9/2. Penny Mordaunt and Ben Wallace are both 8/1.
■ THE Government has no way of knowing how much the Sue Gray Partygate inquiry will cost because it doesn’t have “a central tool in place to monitor the level of resource”, the Cabinet Office has claimed.
Unlock Democracy director Tom Brake said it was “pretty shocking”.
Some sources say it could be as high as £80,000.