British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces no further action over 'Partygate' scandal
Campaigners
have branded a decision to take no further action against British Prime
Minister Boris Johnson over the "Partygate" scandal a "terrible
insult."
Downing
Street revealed on Thursday that Johnson has revealed no further fines over his
alleged breaches of lockdown regulations after the Metroplitan Police announced
that it had concluded its investigation.
Johnson
is said to be "pleased" that the investigation is completed and that
he did not receive a second fine, after a penalty was issued over his 56th
birthday, PA Media reported.
The
Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "The Met has confirmed that they
are taking no further action with regards to the Prime Minister."
Announcing
the end of its investigation online, the Metropolitan Police force issued a statement saying:
"The Met has today announced the investigation into alleged breaches of
Covid regulations at Downing Street and Whitehall, under Operation Hillman, is
complete.
"In
total, detectives have made 126 referrals for fixed penalty notices (FPNs) to
the ACRO Criminal Records Office for breaches of Covid-19 regulations."
Johnson
was fined by police on April 13 for attending a birthday party thrown for him
in his official Downing Street residence in June 2020, when large indoor gatherings
were banned.
He
claimed in December that he had been assured "there was no party and that
no Covid rules were broken." It has since emerged he attended a number of
events himself, including the party for which he was fined.
Campaigners
who lost relatives during the pandemic have dubbed Thursday's decision a
"terrible insult" and called for the immediate release of the report
by senior civil servant Sue Gray, which is expected to be highly critical of
Johnson.
A
string of tweets from the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK account,
said: "There is no reason for that report to be delayed any longer. Every
day they do not act they allow a man who gaslit us and lied to the faces of the
bereaved when he claimed he did 'everything possible' to save our loved ones
remain the highest office in the land."
The
so-called Partygate scandal has been a major embarrassment for the Conservative
party as poll after poll revealed that the public wanted the Prime Minister to
step down.
Opposition
politicians had called for Johnson to resign, but such criticisms have been
dampened down since Labour leader Keir Starmer now finds himself under
investigation over his own alleged breach of the rules.
When
asked by reporters in Leeds on Thursday whether he was still calling for
Johnson's resignation, Starmer 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."
PA
reported that Starmer was questioned about his own breach, but said:
"There was no breach of rules by me or anybody in my team, I'm confident
about that, and therefore there's no comparison to be made here."
Decision
criticized by bereaved relatives
The
Metropolitan Police has said that it will not identify those fined for Covid
breaches in Downing Street, but said that 35 men received 53 fines, while 48
women received 73 fines -- some of whom were fined more than once.
Acting
Deputy Commissioner Helen Ball, of the Met said in the 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."
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