Attendees of the alleged lockdown-breaking parties at Downing Street and the Cabinet Office are reportedly braced for initial fines from the Metropolitan Police.
The Guardian suggested fixed penalty notices would be issued "imminently," while other outlets have reported they are due to surface soon. The police are investigating 12 events including as many as six Boris Johnson is said to have attended.
It emerged last week detectives investigating alleged parties had begun interviewing key witnesses. The Met said more than 100 questionnaires had been sent out to people at the reported gatherings.
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The most notable gatherings were the 'bring your own booze' event where details were emailed to staff at Downing Street by the Prime Minister's principal private secretary Martin Reynolds in May 2020 and a surprise get-together for Mr Johnson's birthday the following month. Mr Johnson has admitted he was at the 'bring your own booze' event for 25 minutes believing it was a work event, while Downing Street admitted staff "gathered briefly" in the Cabinet Room to mark the Prime Minister's 56th birthday.
There was no official update from Downing Street or the Cabinet Office on Monday evening. ITV's Anushka Asthana said she had been told the first wave of fines could include "around 20 names" while The Times reported the same total adding it was not thought Mr Johnson would be among them.
The Met said: "We're not giving a running commentary and I would refer you to our statement from March 21 which is still on our website." That statement revealed detectives had started to interview people as witnesses, and said: "As yet, we have not made any referrals to the ACRO Criminal Records Office for the issuing of fixed penalty notices."
On Monday evening, PA asked the Met if, as the Guardian first reported, the force had made any referrals, to which it responded that it was not going beyond the existing statement "at this time".
Civil servant Sue Gray published a report into the allegations of the parties in January which said there were "failures of leadership and judgement" in parts of No10 and the Cabinet Office while England was under coronavirus restrictions. The initial publication contained limited detail due to the police investigation.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman previously said discussions were needed "with the Met and others about what is suitable" to publish in a fuller report. Mr Johnson previously apologised to MPs and said: "I get it and I will fix it."
