When Boris Johnson woke up on Thursday morning, he was facing three main partygate-related threats to his future as Prime Minister: the Met Police investigation, the Sue Gray report, and the Privileges Committee probe into whether he misled Parliament.
With the completion of the Met investigation and the fact the PM has not received another fine, one of those threats has now gone away. If the PM had been hit with more than one fine then more Tory MPs may have felt the need to go over the top and call for him to resign.
For the moment they will be keeping their powder dry and Mr Johnson will therefore be feeling more secure in No 10. But that could change quickly.
The second threat – the publication, likely next week, of the Sue Gray report – represents the moment of maximum danger for the PM.
Reports have suggested it could be “excoriating” for the premier and > if it is highly critical of Mr Johnson personally then a Tory bid to oust him could jolt back into life.
However, the feeling in Westminster is the report would have to be damning indeed to prompt enough Tories to submit letters to Sir Graham Brady to force a vote of no confidence – especially since the PM can point out that he was only fined once by the police.
That would then leave the Privileges Committee probe as the final threat. Mr Johnson is adamant he did not knowingly mislead the House of Commons when he said no Covid rules were broken in Downing Street and proving otherwise could be very difficult.
For now, No 10 will be feeling more optimistic about the situation > than it has done for months and the view is likely to be “one down, two to go”.
But while the threats posed by partygate to the PM appear to be receding, the cost of living crisis is sharpening its teeth. That could ultimately prove to be the issue that sinks Mr Johnson.
04:11 PM
That’s all for today…
Boris Johnson and Downing Street will be feeling the most optimistic they have about partygate since the beginning of a saga that posed the greatest immediate threat to his leadership.
The Sue Gray report is yet to be published, and the privileges committee is still to get underway, but Mr Johnson has not received any further fines from the Metropolitan Police.
Indeed, the Gray report could represent a moment of “maximum danger” for the Prime Minister based on the details it may or may not contain.
However, as Jack Maidment’s analysis at the top of this blog points out, the cost-of-living crisis is sharpening its teeth – and that could ultimately prove to be the issue that sinks Mr Johnson.
Jack will be back early tomorrow to guide you through another day of news and reaction from Westminster and beyond.
03:54 PM
Election of new NUS president dogged by anti-Semitism row could be invalid
The election of the new president of the National Union of Students (NUS) is to be investigated amid anti-Semitism allegations, with the universities minister questioning the validity of her victory.
Shaima Dallali was elected the next president of the NUS and is due to take office in July. However, her forthcoming role as the representative of UK students has been dogged by claims of anti-Semitism.
Groups including the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) raised concerns after her alleged historic comments made on social media resurfaced.
Last week Nadhim Zahawi, the Education Secretary, severed official ties with the NUS, saying he was “seriously concerned” by the reports. This now means that the union will no longer receive government funding and its leaders will be denied a “seat at the table” in talks with the Department for Education, the Office for Students and the Student Loans Company.
Gabriella Swerling has the story
03:46 PM
All the government parties during lockdown… and what Covid rules were in force
The investigation into partygate has now concluded, with Scotland Yard saying it had issued a total of 126 fixed penalty notices (FPNs).
It was earlier reported that, once the police investigation had wrapped up, Sue Gray, the second permanent secretary in the Cabinet Office, would then release her potentially damning report into the parties.
Ms Gray was tasked with investigating all government parties that took place during coronavirus restrictions, but it has been reported her findings will not be published while a police investigation into “a number” of the parties takes place.
There were thought to be 15 parties that took place in Number 10 or government departments between May 2020 and December 2020, with some coming hours after new restrictions came into force.
Mason Boycott-Owen takes a closer look
03:41 PM
Howzat for a U-turn?
After saying he would “applaud” the Prime Minister’s resignation back in February, Sir Charles Walker has sounded a far more positive note on Boris Johnson this afternoon.
“He’s a bit like that cricket all-rounder who’s been written off time and time again, and then grabs the bowling ball and takes five for fifteen or smashes a hundred or does both things in the same match,” the senior Tory told Newsnight.
“Love him or loathe him, Boris Johnson is an extraordinary politician. Six months ago, actually four months ago, most people thought he was down and out. I was one of those people and he just rewrote the script.”
Sir Charles insisted he had harboured “huge personal affection” for Mr Johnson despite feeling his position was “unrecoverable… I was wrong, fundamentally, the Prime Minister is going to continue in No 10 now.”
Only last month, Sir Charles signalled he would abstain on a vote on the privileges committee investigation into Mr Johnson and told the BBC: “If the finest keep racking up there is only so long that the Prime Minister will be able to lean on his party for support.”
03:31 PM
Lobby latest: ‘The police are rightly operationally independent’
Asked if Mr Johnson had been concerned about the process or findings of the police investigation, Downing Street said: “The police are rightly operationally independent and decisions on fines and the process they followed are solely a matter for them.
“The Prime Minister’s pleased the investigation has concluded and has thanked the Met Police for their work and bringing it to its completion.
“Any questions around their work and how they conducted it [are] rightly for them.”
03:23 PM
Lobby latest: Johnson has no ‘moral duty’ to resign, says No 10
Downing Street denied suggestions Boris Johnson had a “moral duty” to resign over the partygate scandal.
“The Prime Minister has taken responsibility and he acknowledges people’s anger and hurt and he’s offered an unreserved apology, but again he will make a further statement once the Sue Gray report is published,” a No 10 spokesman told reporters this afternoon.
Asked whether Mr Johnson is relieved, the spokesman added: “He’s pleased the investigation has concluded and he’s thanked the Met Police for bringing it to its conclusion.
“As we’ve always said we will publish the Sue Gray report as soon as we can and the Prime Minister will give an update to Parliament as soon as that’s published.”
03:14 PM
Breaking: Simon Case not fined over partygate
This from a Downing Street spokesman: ” Police have confirmed that no further action is being taken in relation to the Permanent Secretary.”
The head of the Civil Service was reported by the Financial Times to have been issued with a questionnaire by the Metropolitan Police in March.
Mr Case was originally in charge of a Civil Service investigation into lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street during the Covid pandemic.
02:48 PM
Grant Shapps: PM has apologised
Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, told Sky News that Boris Johnson has already apologised over the partygate scandal.
He said: “What we do know is this is a fixed penalty notice situation that in the case of the Prime Minister he walked into a room where people wished him happy birthday and he has apologised and paid the fine.
“We also know that there is an outstanding case now with the Durham Police with regard to the Leader of the Opposition.
“I think these things are always best left to the police to work on and that we accept their conclusions.”
02:18 PM
No 10 denies blocking Treasury on windfall tax
Downing Street has denied blocking the Treasury from implementing a windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas giants (see the post below at 08.24).
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman said: “I have seen lots of reports overnight on this but the Prime Minister and the Chancellor are aligned. You’ve heard them both say effectively the same thing when it comes to these sorts of taxes.
“We want to see significant investment by these sorts of companies into British jobs to grow the economy, to secure our energy supply for the long term. We believe investment is the right thing to do in the first instance.”
01:46 PM
Emily Thornberry: PM should resign
Emily Thornberry, Labour’s shadow attorney general, was told during an interview on the BBC that Boris Johnson is likely to survive the partygate scandal after he only received one fine.
Some Tory MPs had been waiting to see if the PM received another fine before making a decision on his future.
But Ms Thornberry said: “Well, they can move the goalposts as much as they want but the fact of the matter is, is that he came to Parliament and he faced MPs and the public and he lied about what had happened.
“That is, I think, the most important principled point about it all and it is a breach of the ministerial code and the ministerial code is quite clear about this: If you lie to Parliament consciously and deliberately you should resign and that is what the Prime Minister should do.”
01:41 PM
Labour accuses Boris Johnson of telling ‘barefaced lie’
Emily Thornberry, Labour’s shadow attorney general, has accused Boris Johnson of telling Parliament a “barefaced lie” when he insisted no Covid rules were broken in Downing Street.
Asked for her response to Scotland Yard concluding its partygate investigation, Ms Thronberry told the BBC: “I think based on the 126 fines from the parties 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 had been broken that that was a barefaced lie and that 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.”
01:21 PM
Minister: ‘I hope now that we can move on’
Kit Malthouse, the policing minister, said he was “pleased” the partygate investigation has now concluded and he hopes the nation can now “move on to some of the really pressing issues” facing the UK.
He told the BBC: “I am pleased that it is all done. Thankful to the police for conducting themselves efficiently and getting it done as quickly as they possibly can.
“Obviously the PM has apologised for the cake incident and I hope now that we can move on to some of the really pressing issues, dealing with NHS backlogs, I am today talking about the drugs problem in society, driving crime down to make our streets safer and then leadership in this extremely challenging environment we find ourselves with a war on continental Europe.”
12:29 PM
Met Police gives more details on fine numbers
The Metropolitan Police said this morning that it had issued a total of 126 partygate fines.
Scotland Yard has now set out how many people those fines have been given to. It said the total number of people fined is 83.
The force said 35 men had received a total of 53 fixed penalty notices.
Meanwhile, 48 women received a total of 73 fines.
12:17 PM
Sir Keir Starmer repeats call for PM to quit
Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, has repeated his call for Boris Johnson to quit. He argued the Prime Minister was responsible for a culture which saw “industrial scale lawbreaking” in No 10.
He told reporters in Leeds: “What the investigation has shown is industrial scale lawbreaking in Downing Street, 120 or so fines.
“That reflects a culture and the Prime Minister sets the culture. What I want to see now is the full Sue Gray report published, there’s no further hiding places for the Prime Minister on that.”
Asked if he was still calling for Mr Johnson to resign, Sir Keir said: “My view on the Prime Minister has not changed. Of course, after an investigation that shows 120-plus breaches of the law in Downing Street, of course he should resign, he is responsible for the culture.”
12:15 PM
Campaigners blast Downing Street over partygate fines
Safiah Ngah, a spokeswoman for the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice campaign group, said the issuing of more than 100 partygate fines is “nothing short of a terrible insult to those of us who lost loved ones to Covid-19”.
She said: “The nearly half a million pounds this investigation has cost could have been spent on support services for the bereaved. Instead it was spent investigating our own Government and all because they lied and failed to acknowledge they had broken the law.
“Conservative MPs promised they would make their mind up about the Prime Minister when the Sue Gray report is released. There is no reason for that report to be delayed any longer.”
12:10 PM
Partygate investigation cost £460,000
The Met has refused to say how many people had received five fines (see the post below at 10.59) because they feared it might lead to the person being identified.
The multiple fines were not doubled up like they were for some members of the public. The Met said it would have been unfair because as this was a retrospective investigation they did not have the opportunity to engage with people and persuade them to change their ways.
Out of the 126 fines handed out by the Met 97 have been paid in full and none of the recipients are outside of the 28 day time limit.
Some of the fines were issued this morning and so the recipients may not have yet been informed. The investigation, which began on January 25, involved a team of 12 detectives and cost a total of £460,000.
11:58 AM
PM to update Parliament after report is published
Downing Street said Boris Johnson will deliver a statement in the House of Commons once the Sue Gray report has been published.
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman said: “The Prime Minister is pleased the investigation is completed and would like to thank the police for their work in bringing this investigation to completion.
“Beyond that… I think the Prime Minister will update Parliament in the first instance on the publication once Sue Gray’s report is published and that is when he will talk in more detail.”
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 issued 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.
