The Metropolitan Police is now investigating several alleged parties held in Downing Street during lockdown.
Questions had been asked of Scotland Yard’s apparent unwillingness to look into potential breaches of the Covid laws in Number 10. The threshold to do so now appears to have been met.
Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick, appearing in front of City Hall’s Police and Crime Committee this morning, confirmed that the force had launched a probe into a “number of events” but refused to specify which parties or how many were the subject of the investigation.
This decision, which takes the political crisis facing Boris Johnson to a new level, was reached after information had been passed on by the Sue Gray inquiry.
The Commissioner noted that the Met would not normally retrospectively investigate breaches of Covid-19 regulations, but confirmed that there were three factors, along with strength of evidence, that would lead to an investigation, including whether those involved knew they were in breach of the law and if not investigating would “significantly undermine the legitimacy of the law”.
It is right that the Met now looks into these potentially unlawful parties. It answers the demand of a public who have followed lockdown rules, attended birthday parties and funerals over Zoom and been prosecuted for breaching lockdown laws.
It is now vital that the police be given the time to undertake their own investigation. The Gray report will not now be the end of the matter for Boris Johnson and Number 10.
