Partygate: Sadiq Khan urges Met to provide ‘urgent clarity’ on picture showing Downing Street lockdown drink
Sadiq Khan has called on the Met Police to provide “clarity”, as to why Boris Johnson was not fined for a November 2020 Downing Street gathering revealed in a leaked picture yesterday.
The Mayor of London made his comments after ITV News published an image of the prime minister raising a glass during a gathering, at a period when the country was under strict lockdown.
The prime minister was not however fined for the meeting, and this morning transport secretary Grant Shapps was among his allies to insist he was “not partying”, but merely attending a “leaving event” for a colleague.
Shapps said, according to ITV, it “looks to me like he was coming out of his office, his red box is there, he thanked a member of staff who was leaving.”
This has not however deterred MPs from renewing calls for the PM’s resignation, with London Mayor Sadiq Khan telling BBC Radio 4 that “the police explain why they’ve reached the conclusions they have” in not fining him.
He said clarity is important in terms “trust and confidence, when it comes to policing by consent, when it comes to questions being asked about the integrity of an investigation”.
“Yesterday was the first time I saw the photograph of Boris Johnson raising a glass, clearly bottles of wine laying around, others with wine in their hand, on a day when he said in the Houses of Commons, and I speak as a former parliamentarian and I know the importance of not lying or misleading in the House of Commons, that there wasn’t a party.”
“Sue Gray will publish her report this week and of course the prime minister will have to answer for himself, but I think the police should explain why they reached their conclusions and provide that clarity.”
The Met Police said it would not make any additional comment to its statement on 19 May, upon announcing the so-called ‘partygate’ investigation had been concluded with 126 referrals for fixed penalty notices.
The force said 83 individuals had been fined, including 35 men and 48 omen
Acting Deputy Commissioner Helen Ball, of the Met said: “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.”