Met Police chiefs today announced they have finished their Partygate investigation after more than 100 fines.
Officers dished out 126 fines to 83 people for at least eight events in Downing Street and Whitehall. Of those 28 people got multiple fines - and at least one person received FIVE.
But questions were raised today over the "murky" process as Boris Johnson will face no further action beyond one fine for his birthday party - despite being at six of the 12 events probed.
The PM is not out of the woods yet, however. Whitehall mandarin Sue Gray is set next week to issue her final report on parties during Covid lockdowns.
It is expected to be damning of the Tory leader, his team and the wider culture in No10 while millions of Brits followed rules against socialising. Some Tory MPs had held back from demanding Boris Johnson's resignation until they knew what Sue Gray would conclude.
Police studied 510 photos along with CCTV images, emails, door logs, diary entries, witness statements, and 204 questionnaires - raising the bombshell prospect some could be published in the Gray report.
Boris Johnson is expected to make a statement to Parliament next week as soon as the Gray report is published.
The PM's spokesman said Downing Street would likely publish the report in the form they receive it from Sue Gray - though she could redact or leave out sensitive information before sending it.
A Labour peer warned the process was "murky" after the PM avoided another fine. His wife Carrie also received confirmation no further action will be taken despite police probing a so-called 'Abba party' in her flat.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "The Met has confirmed that they are taking no further action with regards to the Prime Minister."
It was understood Chancellor Rishi Sunak was also yet to receive any other fine, after receiving one for attending the Prime Minister's gathering in June 2020. And sources told the FT top civil servant Simon Case would not be fined.
The fines relate to between eight and 12 events, out of the 12 that were probed by police. It was unclear because the 12 events happened on eight dates and the Met only clarified that it had fined people for events on eight dates.
Six of the 12 events, the ones marked with an asterisk (*), were said to have been attended by Boris Johnson.
- 20 May 2020: BYOB party in No10 garden*
- 18 June 2020: Karaoke leaving do for No10 official Hannah Young
- 19 June 2020: Boris Johnson's birthday party*
- 13 November 2020: Either the 'Abba Party' in the No10 flat,* or a leaving do for spin chief Lee Cain*, or both - Scotland Yard didn't say.
- 17 December 2020: Either leaving do for Covid rules chief Kate Josephs, or leaving do for Cpt Steve Higham*, or Christmas quiz in civil service chief Simon Case's office, or all three - Scotland Yard didn't say.
- 18 December 2020: Downing Street Christmas party first revealed by the Mirror
- 14 January 2021: 'Prosecco-fuelled' leaving bash for No10 officials*
- 16 April 2021: Riotous leaving dos in No10 on eve of Prince Philip's funeral
Some 53 of the fines went to men and 73 went to women. The investigation cost £460,000. People were issued with questionnaires but no one was interviewed under caution.
All the fines were for breaching restrictions on gatherings - except the 20 May 2020 garden party which breached restrictions on "leaving, or being outside of, the place where you were living without reasonable excuse".
Acting Deputy Commissioner Helen Ball, of the Met said: “There is no doubt that the pandemic impacted all of us in so many ways and strong feelings and opinions have been expressed on this particular issue.
“When Covid regulations were introduced, the Met was clear that whilst we would not routinely investigate breaches of regulations retrospectively, there may be occasions when it would be appropriate to do so.
“The information that we received with regard to the alleged breaches in Downing Street and Whitehall was sufficient to reach our criteria to begin such an investigation.
“Our investigation was thorough and impartial and was completed as quickly as we could, given the amount of information that needed to be reviewed and the importance of ensuring that we had strong evidence for each FPN referral.
“This investigation is now complete."
Covid laws expert Adam Wagner raised questions about how civil servants got fined but Boris Johnson didn’t when they attended the same events.
The barrister explained the PM likely avoided sanction for the 20 May 2020 BYOB party because of a loophole - as it was illegal at the time to “be outside of the place where you were living”.
But for the other parties he told Sky News: “I don’t really understand how he can attend, participate in what were deemed to be illegal gatherings unless, for each one, the people who stayed on later did something different and were fined for that reason.”
He said “We just don’t know” but warned “I don’t really see how you can treat different attendees differently under the law” and said “I’m curious to the reasoning as to how they got” there.
Labour peer Lord Blunkett said there is “fatigue” among the public with Partygate, and “for most people out there it’s now a yawn”.
But he raised concerns over the vague details and timing of the Met’s announcement and raised questions over whether there was a “murky back story” behind it.
He said: “The way in which the Met Police have announced this this morning is a bit odd.
“Not just because of the confusion over how many fines versus how many people but also the gender balance, I suspect the age balance - I suspect some people had good legal advice and others didn’t have access to it.
“I think there’s a murky back story to what has happened.
“I’m sorry if that is the case because some people have been very badly hurt by it whilst others are walking away.”
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps claimed Covid law-breaking parties had happened in other workplaces in a testy interview with Sky News.
Mr Shapps, who was speaking at an event in Germany, suggested rule-breaking had "happened at other professions including Sky", before cutting short the interview when asked about Britain's cost of living crisis.
He said: "Not that I don't want to answer and I'm happy to come on again. But you know that there was a hard stop five minutes ago. I have to go open the next session of this international conference."
Safiah Ngah, from Islington, north London, lost her father Zahari Ngah, 68, to coronavirus in February 2021.
Ms Ngah, a spokesperson for Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, said it was "nothing short of a terrible insult to those of us who lost loved ones to Covid-19".
She said: "We have spent years now calling for lessons to be learnt in order for lives to be saved, all the while the Government told us they were.
"How can that possibly be the case when they either didn’t know the rules they set for us all, didn’t care about them or thought they only applied to people less important than them?"
She added: "Conservative MPs promised they would make their mind up about the Prime Minister when the Sue Gray report is released. There is no reason for that report to be delayed any longer.
"Every day they do not act they allow a man who gaslit us and lied to the faces of the bereaved when he claimed he did “everything possible” to save our loved ones remain the highest office in the land."
Deputy Labour Leader Angela Rayner said people in Downing Street had broken the rules on a "record-breaking scale".
“Industrial scale rule breaking has taken place at the heart of Boris Johnson’s Downing Street," she said.
“We must now urgently see the Sue Gray report published in full. It’s time for the Prime Minister to stop hiding.
"While the British people sacrificed so much, Boris Johnson's Downing Street broke the rules at record-breaking scale. Britain deserves better.”
