‘Hard to believe’ police wouldn’t be aware of any party in No 10
SCOTLAND YARD was last night coming under pressure to explain whether any of the officers on duty during the alleged Downing Street party had been aware of possible Covid law breaches.
Critics have suggested that members of the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command must have been aware if an illegal gathering inside Number 10 had been taking place and therefore should have reported it.
With the country under Tier 3 restrictions on Dec 18 last year, work gatherings that were “primarily social” were banned and party organisers could face fines of up to £10,000. One member of the London Assembly has now written to the police watchdog demanding an investigation and alleging that Met’s failure to launch a criminal investigation could lead to suspicion of “collusion”.
In a letter to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), Green Party member Baroness Jones said: “If there was an illegal gathering taking place at Number 10 Downing Street, then the police must have known and were highly likely to have played an active part in organising or facilitating the illegal gathering.”
Lady Jones said last night: “I am not seeking to get the police into trouble, they are really in a bit of an impossible situation, being expected to report on people they are protecting.
“But if they saw something that night – and I find it hard to believe they did not – then they should have reported it.
“I am also concerned about the Met’s failure to launch an investigation into this matter.”
A spokesman for the IOPC said: “We can confirm that we have received a complaint about the Metropolitan Police Service. The legal framework when we receive direct complaints requires us to send the complaint to the relevant police force to make decisions on recording it and whether a referral to us is required. We are following that process.”
One former Met protection officer, who has worked in Downing Street previously, said he thought it “inconceivable” that those on duty on the night of the alleged party would not have had an inkling that something was going on inside Number 10.
He said: “Your main priority as a police officer is to enforce the law whether you are in Downing Street or in any other street in the land.
“If you believe that an offence has taken place, then you are bound to intervene or report the matter according to your codes of conduct.”
But Ken Marsh, the chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, dismissed the suggestion that those on duty would have been aware of any party going on within No 10.
He said: “People were not coming into Downing Street in hats, pulling party poppers and singing. They were members of staff, coming into work.
“Nobody was coming out of the building staggering around.
“The doors and windows of Downing Street are reinforced and soundproof, so those outside would not hear a thing that was going on inside the building.
“It is quite simply absurd to have this sort of criticism thrown at my officers.”