The public will be told if Boris Johnson is fined for lockdown breaches, No 10 has said.
There had been concerns that the public would never officially be told if the Prime Minister was issued with a fixed penalty notice for attending a No 10 party, because the identity of people issued with a ticket is not usually disclosed by police.
But Downing Street acknowledged the “significant public interest” in the case of the Prime Minister.
Officers are investigating 12 separate gatherings in No 10 and Whitehall during 2020 and 2021 – including three that Boris Johnson is known to have attended and one in the Prime Minister’s Downing Street flat – to find out whether coronavirus lockdown laws were broken.
Downing Street had originally insisted it was a matter for the Metropolitan Police to decide whether to name those found to have broken the law.
Scotland Yard pointed to College of Policing guidance stating that the names of people dealt with by fixed penalty notices – the likely punishment for a breach of the coronavirus regulations – would not normally be disclosed.
“Identities of people dealt with by cautions, speeding fines and other fixed penalties – out-of-court disposals – should not be released or confirmed,” the guidance states.
But the Prime Minister’s official spokesman told reporters: “Obviously we are aware of the significant public interest with regard to the Prime Minister and we would always look to provide what updates we can on him, specifically.”
Asked if that meant No 10 would say if he was given a fixed penalty notice, the spokesman said: “Hypothetically, yes.”
Meanwhile, Peter Aldous became the latest Tory MP to publicly call on Mr Johnson to resign “in the best interests of the country, the Government and the Conservative Party”.
He said that he believed the Prime Minister had no intention of going voluntarily and so he had submitted a letter of the chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady calling for a vote of no confidence.
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab defended Mr Johnson, saying he “believes he acted in good faith at all times”, suggesting the Prime Minister does not think he personally did anything wrong.
Asked whether Mr Johnson should quit if he is issued with a fixed penalty notice, Mr Raab said: “Let’s wait and see … Allow the police to conduct their investigation and see, when they have ascertained the facts, quite what they conclude.”
The Met is examining hundreds of documents and photographs in relation to the 12 events in 2020 and 2021 held while England was under coronavirus restrictions.
The evidence was passed to the police by the investigation team led by senior official Sue Gray, whose interim report on Monday highlighted “failures of leadership and judgment” at the heart of Government but did not point the finger of blame at any individuals.
Her conclusions were limited following a request by the Metropolitan Police to make only limited references to the events under investigation, leaving it to Scotland Yard to decide whether laws were broken.
But for Tory MP Tom Hunt, even the scant details were not “acceptable, excusable, or defensible”, he said in a statement.
He said he was not a “sycophant” and lashed out at colleagues who he suggested had morphed “into some kind of Corbynista groupie that ignores the reality of what’s happened”.
He said Mr Johnson had his support for now and that it was not the time to “depose the Prime Minister”, but that a line could not be drawn under the saga until the full report was published.
Despite Mr Aldous’ actions and the lingering concerns of other MPs, Mr Johnson’s position appears to be secure for now following his promise to make major changes to his Downing Street operation.
Mr Johnson also committed to publishing a fuller version of Ms Gray’s report once the police investigation has concluded – although it is not clear how detailed that will be and whether it will include the evidence submitted to the police.
“It’s not clear to me that there is anything more, other than any conclusions that she will draw once that investigation is concluded, that will come forward,” Mr Raab told LBC.
The Prime Minister also highlighted a greater role for Australian election guru Sir Lynton Crosby in an effort to bolster his support on the Tory benches.
Mr Raab said Sir Lynton “has got a good strategic nose and a good sense of the direction of public opinion”.
Mr Johnson endured a difficult time in the Commons chamber on Monday, where he told MPs: “I’m sorry for the things we simply didn’t get right and also sorry for the way this matter has been handled.”
But asked on Today what precisely the Prime Minister is personally sorry about, Mr Raab said: “He recognised that, as Sue Gray said, the standards expected in No 10 were not as they should have been.”
The Deputy Prime Minister said Mr Johnson “takes the organisational responsibility” for the failures identified but he was not commenting on individual cases because of the police investigation.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer repeated his call for Mr Johnson to quit.
“It’s no good him trying to blame politicians in general. There’s one person at the centre of this who has caused all of those problems and is subject to a criminal investigation because of his own behaviour,” Sir Keir told the BBC.
“That’s why I genuinely think that the time has come for him to go.”
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