Fines for 20 Covid lockdown breaches in Partygate investigation, say police

More fines could be issued for breaches of Covid laws as investigation continues, with ‘significant amount’ of evidence still being assessed

The Metropolitan Police has confirmed that 20 Covid offences in Downing Street and Whitehall have so far resulted in fines, but declined to name the individuals involved.

The referrals represent the first penalties to be imposed in relation to a series of 12 gatherings in 2020 and 2021 and the first police confirmation that coronavirus laws were broken.

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner called on Boris Johnson to resign over the breaches, saying: “The buck stops with the prime minister.”

In a statement, Scotland Yard said that cases were being referred today to the ACRO Criminal Records Office, which will have responsibility for issuing fixed penalty notices.

Police have not confirmed the size of the fines, which ranged between £100 and £10,000 in the period covered, depending the law in place at the time, the size of the gathering and the person’s role.

Investigators have not announced whether the 20 fines related to 20 different offenders, or if individual people have racked up a number of breaches, which could result in a significantly stiffer penalty. It also gave no information on the events which the penalties relate to, stating that this might lead to the inadvertent identification of individuals involved.

The Met made clear that today’s penalties do not mark the end of the investigation and further notices may follow. It is believed that the initial tranche of notices may relate to more straightforward cases, where officials acknowledged having breached rules and made no attempt to mount a defence.

But Ms Rayner said that the finding of law-breaking at No 10 should require the prime minister to resign, even though he has not been named.

“After over two months of police time, 12 parties investigated and over 100 people questioned under caution, Boris Johnson’s Downing Street has been found guilty of breaking the law,” she said.

“The culture is set from the very top. The buck stops with the prime minister, who spent months lying to the British public, which is why he’s got to go.

“It is disgraceful that while the rest of the country followed their rules, Boris Johnson’s government acted like they didn’t apply to them.

“This has been a slap in the face of the millions of people who made huge sacrifices.“

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey also called for Johnson to go.

"If Boris Johnson thinks he can get away with Partygate by paying expensive lawyers and throwing junior staff to the wolves, he is wrong,” said Davey.

"We all know who is responsible. The prime minister must resign, or Conservative MPs must sack him."

Announcing today’s penalty notices, a Scotland Yard spokesperson said: “We are making every effort to progress this investigation at speed and have completed a number of assessments.

“However due to the significant amount of investigative material that remains to be assessed, further referrals may be made to ACRO if the evidential threshold is made.

“As it has for all fixed penalty notices issued during the pandemic, the MPS will follow the College of Policing approved professional practice for media relations which states that ‘identities of people dealt with by cautions, speeding fines and other fixed penalties – out-of-court disposals – should not be released or confirmed’.

“We will not confirm the number of referrals from each individual event subject to our investigation as providing a breakdown at this point may lead to identification of the individuals.”

Government minister Will Quince today refused to say whether the PM should quit if he is among those fined.

The children's minister told Sky News: "I understand the huge public interest, I completely understand that considerable upset because the events that took place shouldn't have happened."

But asked if the PM should resign if found guilty, he replied: "As there's an ongoing live Metropolitan Police question, it's just not appropriate that I comment. That's a hypothetical question, you wouldn't expect me to answer that."

The Met’s Operation Hillman is investigating 12 events, including as many as six which Mr Johnson is said to have attended.

Last week it emerged that detectives investigating alleged parties had begun interviewing key witnesses, after 100 questionnaires were sent out to people at the reported gatherings.

The punishments for people found to have attended illegal Downing Street and Whitehall parties are governed by the law that was in place at the time.

The default fine during the alleged Number 10 garden gathering in May 2020 was £100, but the government then increased penalties.

At the time of Downing Street events in November 2020, England was in the grip of a national lockdown that forbade gatherings of two or more people inside unless an exemption applied.

By then, the default fine for breaching the law had doubled to £200 and unprecedented £10,000 fines had been introduced for people responsible for organising large gatherings involving 30 or more attendees.

Covid laws changed as different “tiers” came into force in December 2020, when a series of alleged Christmas and leaving parties took place, but the same fine scheme was in place and large social gatherings were banned.

In April 2021, when a leaving party was held in Downing Street on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral, indoor celebrations remained illegal.

Default fines were £200 for Covid offences, but a new £800 fine had been introduced for people attending parties of more than 15 people, and organisers of large gatherings could still be fined £10,000.

Announcing the new £800 fine in January 2021, Priti Patel had told a press conference they were necessary because there remained a “small minority that refuse to do the right thing”.