Downing Street officials ‘who went to leaving do for No10’ are the first to get £50 Partygate fines
First £50 Partygate fines are handed to Downing Street officials ‘who went to leaving do for No10 aide Hannah Young’ during June 2020 lockdown
Fixed penalty notices arrived via email to those found to have broken the lawThey relate a party in June 2020, understood to be a leaving do for an aideTook place in the Cabinet Office at a time when gatherings indoors were banned
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Officials working in Downing Street have begun receiving £50 fines over lockdown-busting parties.
The first fixed penalty noticed from police probing the Partygate saga arrived via email to those found to have broken the law.
According to ITV and Sky News they relate a party in June 2020, understood to be a leaving do for an aide, Hannah Young, who was leaving Downing Street for a Government role in the US.
No ministers are believed to have been in attendance. The Sue Gray report said the booze send-off took place in the Cabinet Office at 70 Whitehall at a time when gatherings indoors were not allowed.
It comes as Boris Johnson continues to stubbornly refused to admit that lockdown laws were broken in Downing Street despite Partygate police admitting they were handing out 20 fines in an initial tranche.
In a toe-curling appearance before the Commons Liaison Committee on Wednesday, the PM repeatedly blanked questions about whether the rules had been breached.
Under fire from senior MPs, he insisted: ‘I been very clear I won’t give a running commentary on an ongoing investigation.’
Labour leader and former director of public prosecutions Sir Keir Starmer said the fines mean ‘we now know there was widespread criminality’.
According to ITV and Sky News they relate a party in June 2020, understood to be a leaving do for an aide, Hannah Young, who was leaving Downing Street for a Government role in the US.
It comes as Boris Johnson (pictured with Ms Young in New York) continues to stubbornly refused to admit that lockdown laws were broken in Downing Street despite Partygate police admitting they were handing out 20 fines in an initial tranche.
The Sue Gray report said the booze send-off took place in the Cabinet Office at 70 Whitehall at a time when gatherings indoors were not allowed.
Labour leader and former director of public prosecutions Sir Keir Starmer said the fines mean ‘we now know there was widespread criminality’.
Policing Minister Kit Malthouse this morning appeared to back the view of two Cabinet colleagues in stating that the issuing of partygate fines is evidence that police believe the law was broken in Number 10
The Metropolitan Police said on Tuesday that investigators were referring 20 notices to the ACRO Criminal Records Office, which is responsible for issuing the penalties.
They made it clear that more fines may be issued as inquiries continue.
And the Tory policing minister this morning appeared to back the view of two Cabinet colleagues in stating that the issuing of partygate fines is evidence that police believe the law was broken in Number 10.
Justice Secretary Dominic Raab and International Trade Secretary Anne Marie Trevelyan both accepted this week that coronavirus rules had been breached.
And speaking earlier, Kit Malthouse said it is fair to say a fixed-penalty notice (FPN) signals police feel an unlawful act has been committed.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Mr Malthouse said: ‘A fixed-penalty notice means police have a reasonable belief that you’ve broken the law – you still have a right to challenge it if you want.
‘Having said that, the police practice is not routinely to release the names of those who receive fixed penalties, and I don’t see why that rule should be waived for those people who may or may not be in receipt of it in Downing Street.’
Mr Malthouse, who attends Cabinet, said he has not personally received a fine in relation to the Scotland Yard probe, and he would declare it if he did.
The close ally of Boris Johnson acknowledged that while police do not routinely name those who are issued with fines, the situation is ‘different’ for politicians.
‘If I got a fixed-penalty notice, I would tell you,’ he told LBC.
It comes after Mr Raab, the Deputy Prime Minister, said Government ministers will ‘inevitably’ have to disclose it if they are fined.
No 10 has so far only promised to confirm if Mr Johnson or Cabinet Secretary Simon Case are given a fixed-penalty notice.
Mr Malthouse was asked on LBC whether, as someone who has known the Prime Minister for two decades and who previously served as one of his deputy mayors in London, Mr Johnson is likely to confirm if he received a fine.
Mr Malthouse replied: ‘It is a hypothetical question, but I think if he did, he probably would, yes.’
During his appearance at the Liaison Committee on Wednesday, the PM told senior MPs he was ‘sure you would know’ if he had been fined as part of this week’s FPNs.
Opposition leader Sir Keir has called for the Prime Minister’s wife, Carrie Johnson, to be named if she receives a monetary penalty in relation to the review of claims of lockdown parties in Downing Street.
Sir Keir told Sky News he agrees with the ‘general argument’ that families of MPs should not be dragged into political rows.
But he added: ‘There’s a huge difference between the situation of the wife of the Prime Minister breaking the rules made by the Prime Minister and any other situation.’
When asked if he agrees Mrs Johnson should publicly declare any possible punishment, Mr Malthouse said that is a matter for her.
Sir Keir, speaking later during a visit to Dewsbury in West Yorkshire, said it is ‘very important’ that the country knows which senior staff receive fines.
‘I’m not so concerned about some junior members of staff, but I am concerned about those in and around the Prime Minister who made the rules and then allowed the rules to be broken in their own workplaces, in Downing Street,’ he said.
‘In Downing Street, of all places, there was widespread criminality and breaking of the rules that applied to everybody else.’
