London police call for limits on so-called 'partygate' report

[January 28, 2022]  By James Davey and Elizabeth Piper

LONDON (Reuters) -An inquiry into COVID-19 lockdown-breaking gatherings in Downing Street that might determine the future of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson could be further delayed after the police asked for the report to make only "minimal reference" to those events.

Johnson, facing the gravest threat to his premiership over the alleged lockdown-busting parties at his residence and office at Number 10, has so far weathered growing calls to resign over the events, asking for lawmakers to wait for the report.

Led by senior civil servant Sue Gray, it is looking into several allegations that staff, and Johnson, attended parties in Downing Street in breach of the rules they had themselves imposed on the population to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

It had been expected to be released this week but that time scale was derailed when on Tuesday, London's Metropolitan Police said they had opened an investigation into some of the events to assess whether criminal offences had been committed.

Officials are working on ways to publish Gray's report without compromising the criminal investigation, and some lawmakers fear that it will be watered down. It could, some lawmakers say, also be delayed.
 

"For the events the Met is investigating, we asked for minimal reference to be made in the Cabinet Office report," the Metropolitan Police, or the Met, said in a statement, referring to the department which supports the prime minister and helps implement his policies.

"The Met did not ask for any limitations on other events in the report, or for the report to be delayed, but we have had ongoing contact with the Cabinet Office, including on the content of the report, to avoid any prejudice to our investigation."

The London police force has itself faced criticism for not initially investigating the allegations and questions over why officers on duty at Downing Street apparently failed to take action at the time.

KEY TO FUTURE

Gray's report, which she will deliver to Johnson before it is published and presented to parliament, is seen as crucial to his fate, and he and his ministers have said people should not reach any conclusions before its release.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson walks outside Downing Street in London, Britain, January 26, 2022. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo

She is looking into what has become weeks of a steady drip of stories about events in Downing Street when aides stuffed a suitcase full of supermarket alcohol, broke a children's swing and danced until the early hours of the morning.

Johnson's spokesman has said the prime minister does not believe he broke the law and that Downing Street wants the report to be published as soon as possible.

But officials say the police investigation has complicated the report's publication because they have to determine what can be left in it and what elements need to be removed. The risk, lawmakers say, is that the most damaging conclusions could be removed.

"From the Met statement, it's clear that the most serious allegations will not be available for parliament to view and could possibly delay the report further," said Andrew Bridgen, a Conservative lawmaker who has called for Johnson to resign.

"This does nothing to diminish my view that the prime minister's position is untenable," he told Reuters.

Opposition politicans have also demanded that Johnson resign and accused him of persistently lying.

But the delay has given space to efforts by Johnson and his supporters to persuade colleagues not to try to trigger a confidence vote in him. Some lawmakers have said they would wait until the report before moving against him.

Earlier on Friday, a minister said the report had yet to be handed to Johnson's office.

"I spoke to someone in Downing Street about half an hour a go and they certainly didn't indicate that it had been received," Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy Chris Philp told Sky News.

(Reporting by James Davey; writing by Elizabeth Piper, editing by Guy Faulconbridge, Kate Holton, Mark Heinrich and Angus MacSwan)

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