London cops to probe Downing Street parties during 2020 COVID lockdown
London police said Tuesday they were investigating parties held at Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s residence during the coronavirus shutdown of 2020, a scandal dubbed “Partygate” that threatens to bring down the Conservative government.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said her officers would look into “potential breaches of COVID-19 regulations” at parties held on Downing Street during 2020.
Johnson, who is facing calls to resign over allegations that he and his staff held get-togethers during the spring and summer of that year while social gatherings were banned during the lockdown, said he believes he did nothing wrong.
“I welcome the Met’s decision to conduct its own investigation,” Johnson said Tuesday, adding the police probe would “give the public the clarity it needs.”
Dick said the investigation was launched after police received information from senior civil servant Sue Gray, who has already been looking into the parties and was expected to release a report as soon as this week.
That report now appears to be delayed until the police conclude their investigation.
The prime minister apologized for attending a party in the garden of 10 Downing Street in May 2020, but said he considered it a work event that was allowed by the coronavirus guidelines in place at the time.
ITV News reported late Monday that Johnson attended a birthday party held in his honor at 10 Downing Street on June 19, 2020. That gathering was attended by as many as 30 people despite rules banning indoor social gatherings of more than two.
Attendees sang “Happy Birthday” and ate cake, according to the report, while Johnson hosted family friends in his upstairs residence.
The report noted that nine days earlier, the prime minister had pleaded with the public “to continue to show restraint and respect the rules which are designed to keep us all safe” at a news conference.
Johnson’s office said the family gathering did not violate the lockdown rules.
Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labour Party, said Johnson has “got to go” in the wake of the latest revelations.
“The Prime Minister is a national distraction. Millions of people are struggling to pay the bills, but Boris Johnson and his government are spending the whole time mopping up their own rule-breaking, sleaze and deceit,” he wrote on Twitter. “He’s got to go.”
Jo Goodman, the co-founder of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group, said June 19 “was the day before what would have been my dad’s 73rd birthday, shortly after he had passed away from Covid-19.”
“It was a horrible time for my family, but we stuck to the rules, not even being able to hug to comfort each other,” she told the BBC.
Goodman called the report that Downing Street staff met indoors and ate cake at Johnson’s birthday party “completely sickening.”
“While dozens sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to him, families couldn’t even sing in memory at their loved ones’ funerals,” she said.
With Post wires
