Police have concluded the law was broken at No.10 parties
The prime minister will not make a further apology or correct the record regarding party fines, Downing Street have confirmed.
A spokesperson said Boris Johnson will not be correcting a claim made in the house of commons that “no covid rules were broken”, despite confirmation that the Met plan to issue 20 fines over lawbreaking.
Scotland Yard confirmed on Tuesday morning they would be issuing the fines to various people known to be present at Westminster parties during a period where covid restrictions were in place.
Following the issuing of fines, it was thought the prime minister would correct a claim made on December 1 in the commons that “there was no party and that no covid rules were broken”.
The spokesman said the PM does not believe he misled MPs when he told the commons in December that “all guidance was followed completely”.
"There was no party and no Covid rules were broken."
He's lying to you. pic.twitter.com/NAsz49dL4l
— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE_UK) March 29, 2022
Following an internal report conducted by civil servant Sue Gray, the Metropolitan Police opened an investigation into parties said to have taken place on the Downing Street estate while the country was under covid restrictions.
Of the 12 being investigated, Johnson is thought to have been present at six of them.
The prime minister received a questionnaire from the Metropolitan Police as part of the inquiry into parties at Downing Street and Whitehall at the beginning of February.
The more egregious flouting of lockdown rules is not expected to be dealt with in the first wave of fines, meaning the PM is unlikely to be among them.
On Tuesday morning, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Angela Rayner called on the prime minister to resign, describing his actions as “disgraceful”.
“The buck stops with the prime minister, who spent months lying to the British public, which is why he has got to go,” she said.
“This has been a slap in the face of the millions of people who made huge sacrifices.”
Related links:
- Partygate: 20 fines to be issued by police over Downing Street parties
- Is this the ‘Partygate’ picture of Boris Johnson we’ve all been waiting for?
- Boris Johnson ‘faces £10,000 in Partygate fines’ as PM expected to be quizzed by police
