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Metropolitan Police Announces That Its Investigation Into Partygate Is Over

Boris Johnson was fined for attending his surprise birthday party in Number 10. (Photo: Leon Neal via Getty Images)
Boris Johnson was fined for attending his surprise birthday party in Number 10. (Photo: Leon Neal via Getty Images)

Boris Johnson was fined for attending his surprise birthday party in Number 10. (Photo: Leon Neal via Getty Images)

The Metropolitan Police’s investigation into alleged lockdown-busting parties in Downing Street and Whitehall is over.

In a statement, the force announced that the partygate probe, known as Operation Hillman, “is now complete”.

A total of 126 fixed penalty notices for breaches of Covid-19 regulations have been handed out relating to eight parties, the Met said.

Of those, 53 were men and 73 were women.

They included fines for Boris Johnson, his wife Carrie and chancellor Rishi Sunak, for attending a surprise 56th birthday party for the prime minister in the Cabinet Room in June, 2020.

Downing Street sources said the prime minister has not received any other fines “at this stage”.

Helen Ball, Acting Deputy Commissioner of the Met said: “There is no doubt that the pandemic impacted all of us in so many ways and strong feelings and opinions have been expressed on this particular issue.

“When Covid regulations were introduced, the Met was clear that whilst we would not routinely investigate breaches of regulations retrospectively, there may be occasions when it would be appropriate to do so.

“The information that we received with regard to the alleged breaches in Downing Street and Whitehall was sufficient to reach our criteria to begin such an investigation.

“Our investigation was thorough and impartial and was completed as quickly as we could, given the amount of information that needed to be reviewed and the importance of ensuring that we had strong evidence for each FPN referral.

“This investigation is now complete.”

The announcement paves the way for Sue Gray to finally publish her full report into the scandal.

The Met said a team of twelve detectives were involved in the partygate probe, the total cost of which was £460,000.

They worked through 345 documents, including emails, door logs, diary entries and witness statements, 510 photographs and CCTV images and issued 204 questionnaires.

The partygate scandal led to dozens of Tory MPs submitting letters of no confidence in Johnson’s leadership, with many also publicly calling on him to quit.

It was widely speculated that the PM - who attended up to six of the parties under investigation - was likely to receive more fines.

However, if no further FPNs are handed down, it will represent a huge boost to his chances of political survival.

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said: “Industrial scale rule breaking has taken place at the heart of Boris Johnson’s Downing Street.

“We must now urgently see the Sue Gray report published in full. It’s time for the Prime Minister to stop hiding.

“While the British people sacrificed so much, Boris Johnson’s Downing Street broke the rules at record-breaking scale. Britain deserves better.”

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said Sue Gray must publish her report “without delay”.

He said: “This police investigation confirms Boris Johnson’s Downing Street was fined more times for breaking Covid laws than any other address in the country. It exposes a shocking level of criminality at the heart of Johnson’s Number 10.

“It beggars belief that Conservative MPs are allowing our great country to be run by a prime minister who broke the law then repeatedly lied about it.

“The full Sue Gray report should now be published without delay, and the parliamentary inquiry should be launched into Johnson’s lies.

“The public made huge sacrifices while Boris Johnson partied, they deserve the full truth.”

This article originally appeared on HuffPost UK and has been updated.

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