Boris Johnson will face no further action from the Metropolitan Police over partygate, Downing Street has said, with the Prime Minister receiving no additional fines after Scotland Yard announced it has concluded its investigation.
Asked if Mr Johnson had received more than one fine, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman said: “No, and the Met has confirmed that they are taking no further action with regards to the Prime Minister.”
Scotland Yard said in a lengthy statement issued this morning that it has now finished its probe into the scandal and has issued a total of 126 fixed penalty notices.
Mr Johnson has only been fined once over partygate for attending his birthday party in the Cabinet room on June 19, 2020. Carrie Johnson, the PM’s wife, was also fined over the event and it is understood that she has also been told she will face no further action.
Westminster is now bracing for the publication of the full Sue Gray report into partygate. Downing Street said the report will be published as soon as possible but it is thought that may not be until next week.
Follow the latest updates below.
11:53 AM
Downing Street: Sue Gray’s call on including photographs in report
The Metropolitan Police said its partygate investigation had examined 510 photographs and there are now questions over whether those images will be included in the Sue Gray report.
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman was asked if No 10 would be in favour of the photographs being included.
The spokesman said: “It will be a matter for Sue Gray what information she includes in her report.”
Asked if No 10 would publish the photographs if they are included in the report, the spokesman said: “It is a hypothetical situation but our intention will be to publish the report as received as much as possible. You will know with the interim report we will need to carry out any requisite data protection checks.
“But again, just to be clear, as it didn’t before, I don’t envisage that to be an issue.”
11:37 AM
No 10 insists it will not censor Sue Gray report
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman was asked if Downing Street will “censor” the Sue Gray report in any way before it is published.
The spokesman said: “It is exactly the same position as with the interim report. That is very much not our intention. You will know we didn’t do that for the previous report.”
Asked if the report will be published in the form it is received, the spokesman said: “As received, yes.”
11:32 AM
Sue Gray report will be published ‘as soon as possible’
Downing Street said the Sue Gray report into partygate will be published “as soon as possible” but that No 10 is yet to receive the completed report.
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman said: “Sue Gray will complete her work and then hand that over and then we will publish that as soon as possible.
“That has not happened yet so in effect timings are a matter for her still in terms of when she completes her report.”
It is thought the report may not be published until next week.
11:29 AM
No fine for Cabinet Secretary Simon Case so far
Downing Street has previously said it would say publicly if Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, was fined over partygate.
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman said Mr Case has not received any fine so far.
He said: “With regards to the Prime Minister he has been told that, the Met has confirmed that they are taking no further action with regards to him.
“With regards to the Cabinet Secretary the position is effectively unchanged. He has not received any indication with regards to a fixed penalty notice but he has not had the final confirmation from the Met in the same way the Prime Minister has.”
11:21 AM
Downing Street: Boris Johnson has not received additional partygate fine
Asked if Boris Johnson had received more than one fine, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman said: “No, and the Met has confirmed that they are taking no further action with regards to the Prime Minister.”
10:40 AM
Labour: ‘It’s time for the Prime Minister to stop hiding’
Angela Rayner, the deputy leader of the Labour Party, 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.”
10:37 AM
Lib Dems: ‘Full Sue Gray report should now be published without delay’
Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, has responded to the conclusion of the “partygate” probe.
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.”
10:20 AM
‘Our investigation was thorough and impartial’
Helen Ball, the Acting Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said in a statement:
“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.”
10:03 AM
‘Partygate’ probe examined 345 documents
Scotland Yard said that a team of 12 detectives had worked on the “partygate” probe.
The force said the detectives had examined 345 documents which had included emails, door logs, diary entries and witness statements.
Some 510 photographs and CCTV images were also examined while 204 questionnaires were scrutinised.
09:59 AM
Met Police: Some people were fined more than once
Scotland Yard said that of the 126 fines issued over “partygate”, some 53 were issued to men and 73 were to women.
The Metropolitan Police also said that some people had received more than one fixed penalty notice.
It is understood that 28 people received between two and five fines.
09:53 AM
Scotland Yard announces completion of ‘partygate’ probe
The Metropolitan Police has just announced it has now completed its investigation into the “partygate” scandal.
It said a total of 126 fixed penalty notices have been issued for breaches of Covid-19 regulations.
09:50 AM
Pictured: Sir Keir Starmer meets with Labour’s Wakefield by-election candidate
Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, and Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, are in Wakefield today to meet with Simon Lightwood, the party’s candidate in the forthcoming Wakefield by-election.
A date is yet to be formally set for the Wakefield by-election but it is thought it could take place on June 23.
The Wakefield contest was triggered by the resignation of ex-Conservative MP Imran Ahmad Khan after his conviction for sexually assaulting a teenage boy.
09:38 AM
Parliament now in a ‘different era’ on heavy drinking
Sir Lindsay Hoyle has insisted Parliament is now in a “different era” to the heavy drinking culture of the 1990s.
The Commons Speaker was told during an interview with Times Radio that there had been reports of MPs turning up to vote while drunk.
Asked if the Commons should introduce a “fitness to vote” or breathalyser test, Sir Lindsay, who first became an MP in 1997, said: “I’ll be quite honest, I do know in 1997 they were going through, there were heavy drinkers, that were going through.
“I would say there was a very strong smell of alcohol in those days. I think we are in a different era.”
09:32 AM
Commons Speaker urges MPs to be ‘more responsible’
Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, said last month that he would advise MPs to avoid parliament’s bars and go home after they have finished their day’s work.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker, has now said he believes people just need to be “more responsible”.
He told Times Radio: “Look, Ben is my [parliamentary] neighbour, I have got the greatest of respect. I have not seen Ben close many bars down within the Armed Forces. If the culture is fine there, why can’t we use the same kind of culture here? And what I would say is going off the estate and coming back on drunk is not an answer either.
“You forget, close the bar here, you are 100 yards from the pub on the corner. I can’t bar people from every pub in London.”
He added: “It is about people being more responsible and it is about making sure that people don’t indulge too much.”
08:42 AM
‘I don’t know what the Government is waiting for’
Jonathan Reynolds, Labour’s shadow business secretary, said the country already knows “how bad” the cost-of-living crisis is and the Government should act now and impose a windfall tax on energy firms in order to fund extra help for struggling families.
He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain programme: “Every day this week and last week and almost certainly next week we have got another piece of information that tells us about the scale of this crisis.
“I don’t know what the Government is waiting for. Are they waiting to find out how bad this is? Because I think we know that already.
“The thing about a windfall tax is it is exactly that. It is a windfall that these companies weren’t expecting. They have said themselves in many cases it won’t affect investment plans and they are still going to do very well out of these absolutely unprecedented levels of prices which they are then receiving the benefit of.”
08:33 AM
Minister insists police will not ‘turn a blind eye’ to shoplifting
Kit Malthouse, the policing minister, insisted the Government will make sure the police do not ‘turn a blind eye’ to people who shoplift because of the cost-of-living crisis (see the post below at 09.31).
He told LBC Radio: “Absolutely right and in fact I wrote to chief constables just a year or so ago saying that they should not be ignoring those seemingly small crimes.”
08:31 AM
Minister criticises new chief inspector of constabulary
The new chief inspector of constabulary Andy Cooke suggested in an interview with The Guardian that police officers should use their discretion during the cost-of-living crisis when it comes to punishing people who steal food in order to eat.
Mr Cooke had said there are “no two ways about” the impact of poverty leading to an increase in crime and that he “fully support officers using their discretion” more often.
The comments have prompted a swift rebuke from Kit Malthouse, the policing minister, who has accused Mr Cooke of “old-fashioned thinking”.
He told LBC Radio: “I have a lot of respect for Andy Cooke, he is a fellow Scouser, we get on very well. But I am afraid I find it a bit old-fashioned thinking. We first of all believe that the law should be blind and police officers should operate without fear or favour in the prosecution of the law.
“But secondly also that it is not quite right to say that as the economy fluctuates so does crime. We have seen economic problems in the past or not when crime has risen or not.”
08:01 AM
Lib/Lab by-election pact ‘absolutely not on the cards’
A formal date has not yet been set for the Tiverton and Honiton by-election but it is thought it could take place on June 23.
The Devon constituency is expected to be heavily targeted by the Liberal Democrats as they try to win it from the Tories.
Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Lib Dems, today rubbished suggestions of an electoral pact in the seat between his party and Labour.
He told Sky News: “It is absolutely not on the cards and it is not happening.”
07:52 AM
Sir Ed Davey accuses Rishi Sunak of ‘dither and delay’
Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, said he does not believe Rishi Sunak understands the growing pressures on household budgets.
He told Sky News: “I just don’t think he is doing anywhere near enough, he doesn’t seem to get it.
“There are millions of families and pensioners who are hurting now and we have seen a government that has first of all not done enough and then it is dithering and delaying and they have got to do something now.”
07:24 AM
Minister: ‘Retrospective taxation is to be avoided’
Downing Street advisers are resisting Treasury pressure to roll out a windfall tax on energy firms, according to The Times.
One adviser in No 10 is said to have said it would be an “ideologically unconservative thing to do”.
Kit Malthouse, the policing minister, was asked if he agreed that a levy on excess profits would be “ideologically unconservative” and he told Times Radio: “Well, as I said to you before, my predilection as a Conservative generally is to have low and stable and predictable taxes and that retrospective taxation is to be avoided.
“But there are Conservative administrations in the past who have felt the need to tax retrospectively and sometimes the circumstances might warrant that.”
07:20 AM
Kit Malthouse: Government ‘intrinsically opposed’ to windfall tax
Kit Malthouse, the policing minister, was asked during an interview on Times Radio if he could say with certainty that the Government will not impose a windfall tax on energy firms.
He said: “Well, obviously that is way above my pay grade… we are intrinsically opposed to that kind of taxation. We want to see a pattern of investment from that industry that will help us with our medium and long term energy problems. We are very focused on that.
“But the Chancellor reserves the right to take all steps he thinks necessary and he is in conversation with that industry all the time I am sure.”
07:18 AM
Good morning
Good morning and welcome to today’s politics live blog.
The cost of living crisis continues to dominate the agenda in Westminster, with the Government under growing pressure to do more to help struggling families.
The question of whether to impose a windfall tax on oil and gas giants is refusing to go away for the Government and Kit Malthouse, the policing minister, has been sent out on the broadcast round to set out the latest position.
I will guide you through the key developments.
