London police open investigation into Downing Street parties

London: Allegations multiple parties were held at Number 10 Downing Street during lockdown will be investigated by police, the head of Scotland Yard has announced.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson welcomed the criminal investigation, saying it would help “draw a line under the matter.”

Police had until now declined to investigate the alleged breaches of lockdown rules, despite multiple media reports of various events held at the Prime Minister’s official work residence.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick addressing the London Assembly’s Police and Crime Committee on Tuesday.Credit: YouTube/Screengrab

This was despite protection officers, who guard the building and its residents, being interviewed by Sue Gray, a senior civil servant, who is conducting an inquiry that Johnson ordered. The Prime Minister has been told to resign by the opposition and even some of his own backbenchers.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick told a session of the London Assembly’s Police and Crime Committee that Gray had provided police with evidence and that officers were now investigating “a number of events without fear or favour”.

“What I can tell you this morning is that as a result of the information provided by the Cabinet Office inquiry team and, secondly, my officers’ own assessment, I can confirm that the Met is now investigating a number of events that took place at Downing Street and Whitehall in the last two years in relation to potential breaches of COVID-19 regulations,” Dick told the London Assembly.

“I absolutely understand there is deep public concern about the allegations that have been in the media over the last several weeks.

Boris Johnson speaks during Prime Minister’s Questions last week.Credit: AP

“Many, many people including many Londoners, and indeed my colleagues have made huge sacrifices and they’ve suffered considerable loss during the pandemic.”

In a statement issued after Dick’s appearance, the Metropolitan Police said it had written to the Cabinet Office on Tuesday (local time) “with a formal request for it to refer all relevant information gathered from its inquiry in relation to events on the dates in question to support the police investigations.”

Dick said that police were generally reluctant to investigate historical claims of COVID-19 regulations because of finite resources and the public’s preference for officers to be tackling violent crime and terrorism.

Johnson told the Commons he was focussed on “the people’s priorities.”

“I welcome the Met’s decision to conduct its own investigation because I believe this will help to give the public the clarity it needs and help to draw a line under matters,” he said.

“But I want to reassure the country that I and the whole government are focused 100 per cent on dealing with the people’s priorities.”

Gray’s report was due this week, but it will now not be published until the police have concluded their investigation.

In the most damning example, Johnson’s principal private secretary emailed Number 10 staff inviting them to a “bring your own booze” party in the Downing Street Garden when the rules at the time mandated that people meet only one person outside.

Johnson and his wife, Carrie, both attended, but the Prime Minister later told the Commons that he thought it was a “work event.” He had originally insisted no parties were held.

Wavering Tory MPs considering knifing Johnson had been waiting to see the outcome of Gray’s report before making their decision. While the police inquiry exposes the Prime Minister on yet another front, it also buys him more time to overhaul his staffing arrangements and, possibly, his frontbench, as some of his supporters are advising.

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