Partygate live: Sue Gray report due next week after police end investigation with 126 fines
Sue Gray #SueGray
Downing Street says Sue Gray’s report into Partygate to be published ‘as soon as possible’
The Downing Street lobby briefing has just finished. Here are the key points on Partygate.
It had been thought that Johnson and his wife were quite likely to be fined over at least one further event – the gathering held in the Downing Street flat on the night Dominic Cummings quit. Loud Abba music was heard coming from the flat that night, and Carrie Johnson (who was delighted to see Cummings go) was said to be celebrating with friends who work as government advisers. Sources have claimed that they were there for a work meeting, and that the PM was interviewing one of the attendees about a potential job.
Updated at 07.35 EDT
In an interview with Radio 4’s World at One Kit Malthouse, the policing minister, was asked if he could explain why Boris Johnson only received one fine over Partygate despite being at several of the events for which people were fined. (See 12.07pm.) “You’d have to discuss that with the police,” Malthouse replied. He went on:
My job is to look at the results and be relieved that it’s done and get on with the really important stuff that we need to focus on. Keir Starmer (left) meeting Labour’s candidate in the Wakefield byelection, Simon Lightwood, in Wakefield today. Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images Campaigners for Covid victims urge Tory MPs to remove Johnson as PM
The campaign group Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK has posted a thread on Twitter with its reaction to the news that the Partygate investigation has finished. It starts here.
The group is urging Tory MPs to remove Boris Johnson as party leader and PM.
Craig Oliver, who used to be head of communications at No 10 for David Cameron, is doubtful as to whether the Sue Gray report will be as damning as many people expect.
These are from James Johnson, a Tory pollster who used to work in Downing Street when Theresa May was PM.
Labour says PM told ‘barefaced lie’ about parties as conclusion of Met inquiry means privileges committee probe can start
The conclusion of the Met investigation into Partygate does not just mean that the Sue Gray report into the lockdown-busting events will be published imminently; it also triggers the launch of the privileges committee inquiry into claims that Boris Johnson deliberately misled MPs when he said the rules were followed at all times.
The Commons voted for this investigation to go ahead last month, but the motion passed by MPs said the committee would “not begin substantive consideration of the matter” until the Met inquiry was over.
In an interview with Radio 4’s World at One Emily Thornberry, the shadow attorney general, said that Johnson told a “barefaced lie” in the Commons and that this was the most important reason why he should resign. She said:
Based on the 126 fines from the parties as at No 10, just looking at the sheer scale of law breaking which has been laid bare by the police, what we know now, for absolute certainty, is that when Boris Johnson came to the House of Commons and said there were no parties in Downing Street and no rules have been broken, that that was a barefaced lie. There is no possible way in which he can claim that he was unaware that these parties that he was attending didn’t break the rules here.
And for that – we think it’s an extremely important point, always been the most important point – he should resign.
Emily Thornberry. Photograph: Tayfun Salcı/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock
Boris Johnson has another of his regular calls with Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, this morning. They speak frequently, but the calls often seem to coincide with Partygate stories being in the news. According to No 10 today they discussed “a range of issues, including military support and global food security”. No 10 says:
President Zelenskiy updated on the situation in the Donbas and the ongoing fight to regain all of Ukraine’s sovereign territory and counter Russian disinformation in contested areas. The prime minister stressed his undimmed admiration for the brave defenders of Mariupol and urged Russia to treat any prisoners of war with dignity and respect.
Noting the recent announcement of an additional £1.3bn in UK military aid for Ukraine, the prime minister set out the support flowing to Ukraine’s defence, including long-range artillery, shore-to-ship missiles and unmanned drones.
The leaders discussed progress in negotiations and agreed to step up work with allies, including the US, France and Germany, to define the longer-term security architecture for Ukraine.
The Prime Minister raised his significant concerns about the growing global fallout from Russia’s illegal invasion and President Putin’s craven and reckless blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, including rising food prices in developing countries. They looked at options to open up critical sea and land supply routes for Ukrainian grain stocks, and committed to direct their teams to work urgently on the next steps.
Met says 35 men and 48 women in total fined over Partygate
The Metropolitan police have now updated their statement on the Partygate investigation to clarify the exact number of people fined. The new version says:
Of the referrals, all resulted or will do so in a FPN being issued. In total, this refers to 83 individuals. The breakdown of recipients is 53 FPNs were issued to 35 men and 73 FPNs to 48 women. A total of 28 people received between two and five referrals.
The original statement just said that 126 fines had been issued, and that some people had been fined more than once. But it also said “the breakdown of recipients is, 53 were men and 73 were women”, implying that a total of 126 individuals had been fined, when what it actually meant was that 53 of the fines were issued to men, and 73 to women.
These figures show that, on average, people were fined one and a half times each. This was the same for men and women.
Updated at 08.20 EDT
Starmer restates call for PM’s resignation over Partygate – but mostly criticises him over cost of living crisis
Keir Starmer has given his first reaction to the news that the Met Partygate investigation is now over, and that Boris Johnson is not going to receive any further fines. When asked, he restated his call for Johnson to resign – but more as a formality than with any gusto. (Once a politician calls for a rival to resign, it is almost impossible to retract with any credibility, as the Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross, among others, has discovered.) What was telling, thought, was how, in the face of repeated questions on Partygate, Starmer kept trying to get off the subject and talk about the cost of living crisis instead.
Asked if he was still calling for the PM to resign, even though he has just been fined once, Starmer replied:
My view of the prime minister hasn’t changed. After an investigation that shows 120-plus breaches of the law in Downing Street, of course he should resign. He’s responsible for the culture.
He also needs to focus on the cost of living crisis because people are really struggling with their bills. Inflation is up, prices are up, wages are down and the government is imposing tax on them at the same time. And he’s got no answers.
Starmer also accused the government of “running round like headless chickens not knowing what to do in the middle of a cost of living crisis”. And he said he expected Johnson to U-turn on the windfall tax, and introduce one for energy companies.
Keir Starmer Photograph: Sky News
Updated at 08.16 EDT
Downing Street says Sue Gray’s report into Partygate to be published ‘as soon as possible’
The Downing Street lobby briefing has just finished. Here are the key points on Partygate.
It had been thought that Johnson and his wife were quite likely to be fined over at least one further event – the gathering held in the Downing Street flat on the night Dominic Cummings quit. Loud Abba music was heard coming from the flat that night, and Carrie Johnson (who was delighted to see Cummings go) was said to be celebrating with friends who work as government advisers. Sources have claimed that they were there for a work meeting, and that the PM was interviewing one of the attendees about a potential job.
Updated at 07.35 EDT
Boris Johnson told by Met he will not be receiving any further fines over Partygate
Boris Johnson has been told that he is definitely not receiving any further fines over Partygate, it is being reported by the Guido Fawkes blog and subsequently by the BBC’s Chris Mason.
The news came out at the Downing Street lobby briefing – where what the PM’s spokesperson said was meant to be embargoed until the briefing was over. The Guido Fawkes website has never respected the embargo process.
Updated at 07.04 EDT
Some of the people receiving the final fines issued over Partygate will be getting them within 48 hours, says the Telegraph’s Martin Evans.
Updated at 07.04 EDT
Carrie Johnson told she won’t receive any further FPNs
Carrie Johnson, the prime minister’s wife, has been told that she is not going to receive any further fines over Partygate, beyond the one we were told about in April, it is understood. The April fine related to the surprise birthday gathering she organised for the PM in the cabinet room. She was also being investigated over allegations that she held a party in the Downing Street flat on the night Dominic Cummings resigned, where Abba music was played loudly as she celebrated with friends the departure of an enemy. If the Met has decided not to fine her in relation to this, that suggests it has accepted the argument that government advisers who attended (reportedly her friends) were there for a work meeting.
Updated at 06.46 EDT
A reminder: No 10 decreed that this would be “crime week” in its news grid, and at cabinet on Tuesday Boris Johnson delivered a mini-lecture about how the government was committed to tackling crime. “Crime, crime, crime is what we want to focus on,” he said, according to the readout issued by Downing Street.
Updated at 06.49 EDT
From the Daily Mirror’s Pippa Crerar
Sue Gray report into Partygate now expected next week after Met inquiry concludes
The full Sue Gray report is now expected to be published next week, my colleague Peter Walker reports.
Met says it spent almost £500,000 on Partygate investigation
Here are the main things we’ve learnt about the Metropolitan police’s Partygate investigation (officially known as Operation Hillman) from today’s statement.
20 May 2020 – Regulation 6 of the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 – Restriction on leaving, or being outside of, the place where you were living without reasonable excuse.
18 and 19 June 2020 – Regulation 7 of the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 – Restriction on participating in an indoor gathering consisting of two or more people.
13 November 2020 – Regulation 8 of the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No. 4) Regulations 2020 – Restriction on participating in an indoor gathering consisting of two or more people.
17 and 18 December 2020 – Paragraph 1 of Schedule 3 to the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (All Tiers) (England) Regulations 2020 – Restriction on participating in an indoor gathering in the Tier 3 area consisting of two or more people.
14 January 2021 – Paragraph 3 of Schedule 3A to the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (All Tiers) (England) Regulations 2020 – Restriction on participating in an indoor gathering in the Tier 4 area consisting of two or more people.
16 April 2021 – Paragraph 2 of Schedule 2 to the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Steps) (England) Regulations 2021 – Restriction on participating in an outdoor gathering in the Step 2 area consisting of more than six people.
Updated at 06.43 EDT