Scotland Yard is being urged to “explain” why Boris Johnson has not been fined for a No 10 event during England’s second lockdown, as a leaked photograph showed him raising a glass to a departing colleague.
Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, who said he had “assiduously stayed well away” from the Metropolitan Police’s investigation, said it was now important for the force provide “clarity” on their conclusions.
It comes after photos published last night by ITV News showed the prime minister with colleagues next to a table with two bottles of champagne or cava, four bottles of wine, and half a bottle of gin.
There were at least eight other people in the room at a time when people were banned from social mixing, other than to meet one person outside.
Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, confirmed on LBC on Tuesday that “there were fixed penalty notices issued” for the event on 13 November 2020 as Mr Johnson’s director of communications, Lee Cain, left No 10.
However, he highlighted that the prime minister was not sanctioned by police for his appearance related to the leaked photograph.
Last week, the Met Police, who did issue Mr Johnson with a fixed-penalty notice for a birthday gathering in June 2020, closed its investigation, paving the way for civil servant Sue Gray’s investigation to be released.
But Mr Khan said there were questions for the police, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think it’s important, when it comes to trust and confidence, when it comes to policing by consent, when it comes to questions being asked about the integrity of an investigation that the police explain why they’ve reached the conclusions they have.”
Images obtained by ITV News show Boris Johnson raising a glass at a Downing Street leaving party on 13 November, 2020
A spokesperson for the London mayor later said Mr Khan had written to the acting Met commissioner “to seek a detailed explanation of the factors which were taken into account by investigating officers when decisions were made about whether to take action in individual cases in the Downing Street ‘Partygate’ investigation.”
They added: “He has asked them to take steps to also reassure Londoners by making this explanation to them directly, because he is concerned that the trust and confidence of Londoners in the police is being further eroded by this lack of clarity.”
“The Mayor has been clear he cannot and would not intervene in operational decisions, however with the investigation now complete, he has made this request in accordance with the Policing Protocol Order 2011 paragraph 23(g).”
On Monday evening — after ITV News published the photograph — the Liberal Democrats also urged the Independent Office for Police Conduct to examine the Met’s inquiry into events in No 10.
Deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “The Met Police need to explain why Boris Johnson wasn’t fined for this event, despite being pictured in an apparent breach of the rules.
London mayor Sadiq Khan with Boris Johnson
“If anyone else had been pictured at a party like this during lockdown, surely this would have been enough evidence for them to be fined. It does seem that there has been one rule for the prime minister and another for everyone else.
She added: “We need urgent clarity from the Met over why Boris Johnson wasn’t fined when others were. If the Met won’t set out the basis on which they made their decisions, then it’s absolutely right that they should face an investigation.”
However, cabinet minister Mr Shapps told the same programme the Met police did not need to explain why the prime minister escaped a fine for the leaving party on 13 November, 2020.
“I don’t think the police should provide running commentaries, no,” he told the BBC.
Mr Shapps also attempted to argue that Mr Johnson had only “popped down” to toast to his former spin doctor, and claimed the prime minister was “mortified” by the latest revelations.
