Cabinet ministers are braced for a drip-drip of partygate photos which could further destabilise Boris Johnson’s leadership.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace admitted there was a threat of “constant leaking” of more pictures of gatherings at No10 by opponents of the Prime Minister.
With police starting to send letters to some 50 people suspected of breaching the Government’s own Covid rules at parties in No10 and Whitehall, Mr Johnson refused to say whether he would resign if he is found to have broken the law by attending several of these events.
However, in a further blow as he seeks to stay in office, former premier Sir John Major bluntly accused Mr Johnson and his officials of breaking lockdown laws and of dreaming up “brazen excuses”.
Mr Johnson held talks today with Nato chiefs in Brussels over the Ukraine crisis and was seeking to reset his Government by axing the last Covid regulations, on self-isolation, and with a new focus on domestic policies.
But his attempts to do so were undermined yesterday when a picture emerged during Prime Minister’s Questions of a “virtual quiz” at No 10 in December 2020, when London was under Tier 2 restrictions, which showed Mr Johnson and staff, one wearing a Christmas hat and another tinsel, with a bottle of champagne, or other type of sparkling wine, and a packet of crisps on a table. Asked about the ongoing partygate scandal, Mr Wallace admitted on Times Radio: “There could be a photograph tomorrow, the next day and the day after that, and that is clearly what is behind some of the people’s motives.
“How accurate they are, how much they are put in the right context, that’s what the police will find out and I think that’s a perfectly legitimate professional function to do it.”
His comments came after Scotland Yard said it would review whether to investigate the quiz event having previously decided not to do so.
After the latest picture appeared in The Mirror, former No10 top adviser Dominic Cummings, who fell out with Mr Johnson, tweeted: “There’s waaaaay better pics than that floating around, incl in the (Downing Street) flat”.
Speaking today, Mr Wallace added: “The constant leaking is clearly designed for a purpose. I think, however, we should make sure that this is done and handled by the professionals.
“The police are doing an investigation on a range of these alleged parties. And of course, all these photos etc will be pieces of evidence and I think that’s where we should leave it. We should leave it to the police.”
As Scotland Yard investigates 12 events in Downing Street and Whitehall, the Prime Minister was asked at a press conference at Nato headquarters in Brussels if he would quit if police concluded he broke the law, which is likely to see him fined if he did.
Mr Johnson responded: “That process must be completed, and I’m looking forward to it being completed... that’s the time to say more on that.”
Sources have suggested that the Prime Minister will seek to ride out an even more intense political storm to stay in No10 if he is found to have broken Covid laws. But in a speech at the Institute for Government think-tank this morning, Sir John Major suggested that if Mr Johnson deliberately misled Parliament over the parties then he would have to resign.
He said: “At No10, the Prime Minister and officials broke lockdown laws. Brazen excuses were dreamed up. Day after day the public was asked to believe the unbelievable. Ministers were sent out to defend the indefensible — making themselves look gullible or foolish.”Although Sir John didn’t mention Mr Johnson by name, he added that “deliberate lies to Parliament have been fatal to political careers— and must always be so”.
Many Tory MPs have been waiting for the completion of the Met’s inquiry and the publication of the full report by senior civil servant Sue Gray into partygate before deciding whether to continue to support Mr Johnson.
Downing Street staff were braced for questions as detectives investigating lockdown parties begin contacting those believed to have been involved.
Scotland Yard said by the end of the week officers will have started sending out formal legal questionnaires to more than 50 people. The events under investigation include a number known to have been attended by Mr Johnson.
By mid-morning, he was not believed to have been contacted by police. However, a leading lawyer believes Mr Johnson could face penalty notices of more than £10,000 if he is unable to explain why, if true, he attended multiple parties. Adam Wagner, a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “There are 12 gatherings being investigated, the person we know was probably at six was the Prime Minister so if he was given a fixed penalty notice for each of those I think he would be given those sort of cumulative amounts until eventually the final one would be £6,400 so overall…he could still be in line for over £10,000 worth of fixed penalty notices if they accumulate.”
