LONDON (AP) 鈥� The 鈥減artygate鈥� scandal that threatens to derail U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson鈥檚 administration deepened Tuesday as police opened an investigation into gatherings at government offices that allegedly violated COVID-19 lockdown rules.
London鈥檚 Metropolitan Police Service has launched an inquiry into 鈥渁 number of events鈥� at Johnson鈥檚 Downing Street office and other government buildings because they met the force鈥檚 criteria for investigating the 鈥渕ost serious and flagrant鈥� breaches of coronavirus rules, Commissioner Cressida Dick told a committee of the London Assembly, the capital鈥檚 local government council.
Johnson is facing calls to resign amid revelations that he or his staff attended a series of social events during periods of lockdown when most social gatherings were banned in England, forcing average citizens to miss weddings, funerals and birthdays as friends and relatives died alone in hospitals. The gatherings are already being investigated by a senior civil servant whose report has been anxiously awaited by lawmakers and the public.
鈥淎s a result, firstly, of the information provided by the Cabinet Office inquiry team and, secondly, my officers鈥� own assessment, I can confirm that the Met is now investigating a number of events that took place at Downing Street and Whitehall in the last two years in relation to potential breaches of COVID-19 regulations,鈥� Dick told the committee.
Police have already assessed several other events and determined that they do not meet the threshold for further investigation, the commissioner said. She declined to provide specifics about the gatherings.
The announcement throws into doubt the timetable for when Sue Gray, the civil servant leading the Cabinet Office inquiry, will release her report. Gray had been expected to finish this week, but rules governing the investigation allow the inquiry to be paused if she turns over evidence of potential criminal offenses to the police.
The prime minister鈥檚 spokesman, Max Blain, said the investigations team and the police were talking.
鈥淭hat still needs to be worked through, both in relation to what may or may not be published and the ongoing work of both the police and the (Gray) investigation,'' he said.
Even before the police investigation was announced, Johnson was fighting off new allegations of rule breaking aimed directly at him.
ITV News reported late Monday that Johnson鈥檚 then-fiancee threw a birthday party for him 鈥� complete with cake 鈥� inside his Downing Street offices on June 19, 2020, followed by another gathering for family and friends in his official residence.
The prime minister鈥檚 office confirmed that the events took place, but denied that they violated lockdown regulations. The first was a brief gathering with colleagues who Johnson was already in close contact with and the second involved a small number of family members who met outside in a garden, in line with coronavirus rules.
Such careful parsing of the rules fueled a debate in the House of Commons, where opposition lawmakers once again called on the prime minister to resign.
Martin Docherty-Hughes of the Scottish National Party argued that the latest gatherings were indeed parties by quoting the late celebrity chef Julia Child, who once said 鈥渁 party without cake is just a meeting.鈥�
鈥淛ohnson鈥檚 staffers supplied a cake,鈥� he said. 鈥淓rgo, it was a party.鈥�
But Paymaster General Michael Ellis, who represented the government, said cake did not a party make.
鈥淚f while at work someone eats cake for 10 minutes, I do not think that conclusions can be drawn from that,鈥� Ellis responded.
The fact that politicians are relying on such technicalities to justify for their actions is 鈥渇arcical,鈥� said Catherine Haddon, an expert on the constitution at the Institute for Government in London.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just about sort of the technicalities of the law, whether there is a sufficient defense or not. It鈥檚 about public perception because people were losing their loved ones at this time, you know, unable to to say goodbye to them in person..,鈥� she told The Associated Press.
The police investigation is just the latest episode in the 鈥減artygate'' scandal that has destabilized Johnson鈥檚 conservative government for the past six weeks. Johnson initially denied that any rules had been broken, but he was forced to order an investigation after video emerged of a senior staff member making jokes about a wine-and-cheese party in the prime minister鈥檚 press office.
Johnson later apologized for attending a party in the garden outside his Downing Street offices in May 2020, saying he initially thought it was a work gathering allowed by the rules but recognized on hindsight that it wasn鈥檛 appropriate.
Police have previously faced criticism for suggesting they wouldn鈥檛 investigate the Downing Street parties because officers don鈥檛 routinely investigate historical breaches of coronavirus regulations, where the only penalty available is a fine. Fines of up to 10,000 pounds ($13,490) were imposed for breaching lockdown rules.
But Dick said Tuesday that police were prepared to conduct retrospective investigations where there were 鈥渞eally flagrant breaches鈥� of the rules. Before such investigations are carried out, she said, three criteria must be met: there is evidence that those involved knew or should have known they were breaking the law, not investigating would 鈥渟ignificantly undermine鈥� the law, and there seems to be no reasonable defense for the conduct.
鈥淪o in those cases, where those criteria were met, the guidelines suggested that we should potentially investigate further and end up giving people tickets,鈥� she said.
Danica Kirka, The Associated Press
