E-mails were received from some attendees this week after police said they were issuing 20 penalty notices to those who “reasonably believed” they were attending rallies during the lockdown. However, the Met refuses to disclose which parties have been fined. It is understood Gray, the senior civil servant investigating the suspected Downing Street party during the lockdown, is also unaware of what has reached the crime scene. It will update and publish its report when the police investigation is completed, but does not expect to receive full information on which of the 12 parties under investigation and which officials, aides and possibly politicians have been fined. The Office of the Council of Ministers and No. 10 also do not know for whom, if any, sanctions have been imposed by its current employees. No. 10 is committed to revealing whether Boris Johnson and Secretary of State Simon Case have been fined, but officials are not encouraged to go public or even tell their executives if they are being punished. Contact the team securely: create a Protonmail account and email us at [email protected] or use Signal Messenger or WhatsApp to send a message to +44 7824 537227. Their names are likely to be made public only if some of them were present or decided to challenge the fine, which could see their name mentioned by the competent magistrate. Labor has criticized the lack of transparency, with Keir Starmer saying on Thursday that the public should be informed if the Prime Minister’s wife, Carrie Johnson, received a fixed penalty notice for violating the lockdown rules. Government sources said the Met appeared to have dealt with “low fruit first” by focusing on places where those involved had acknowledged their involvement. The Met suggested that the fines be issued as part of a “first installment”, indicating that more could be given in connection with more complex incidents where those involved denied participating in illegal gatherings. One of the events where it is believed that some of the attendees were fined is a departure party on June 18, which was held for an outgoing No. 10 assistant. The prime minister is believed to have been present at many of the rallies under investigation, including a birthday party and a rally in the No. 10 garden hosted by his top private secretary, Martin Reynolds. However, he refused to accept that a fine would mean that he had broken the law, and his allies suggested that he not resign if he was fined. He repeatedly avoided questions about the issue when he appeared before the Association’s Liaison Committee on Wednesday. On the contrary, Kit Malthouse, the police minister, seemed to support the view of two cabinet colleagues – Dominic Raab and Anne-Marie Trevelyan – that the imposition of fines on Partygate proves that the police believe the law was violated. Interior Minister Malthouse said it was fair to say that a fixed penalty notice (FPN) meant police felt an illegal act had been committed. Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Malthouse said: “A definite penalty notice means that the police have a reasonable belief that you have broken the law – you still have the right to challenge it if you want to. “That being said, it is not usually the practice of the police to make public the names of those who receive permanent sanctions, and I do not understand why this rule should be repealed for those people who may or may not receive it on Downing Street. . » Malthouse, who is on the cabinet, said he had not personally received a fine in connection with the Scotland Yard investigation, but would have said so if he had. The threat of some Tory lawmakers ousting Johnson from the leadership has waned in recent weeks amid the Ukraine crisis, but the confirmation of the first sanctions on Tuesday rekindled discussions about possible provocation and speculation about his future if fined. and criticized. in the Gray report.
