Met Police will not reveal if Boris Johnson was fined over 'partygate'

Downing Street has suggested that the public may never know whether the Prime Minister or his staff were fined by the Metropolitan Police over parties in No 10 during the height of lockdown.

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner said the public had the right to know if Boris Johnson is fined over the partygate row.

“I can’t believe this needs saying. The public have a right to know if the Prime Minister is found to have committed an offence by the police.

“Number 10 said they would publish the full report. They cannot be allowed to backtrack or hide the results of the police investigation.”

The Telegraph reported that the force won't reveal the names of any staff who received fixed penalty notices.

As such, whether anyone was fined and whom, may be kept private by Downing Street.

A No 10 spokesman said: "What I'm simply saying is that, as Sue Gray said in her update, that it would be wrong to infer from the ongoing work that there has necessarily been a breach in the regulations.

"I'm not seeking to preempt the important work that the police are now doing. So I'm not going to be drawn into speculation about what might happen if the police do decide to proceed, as that is purely a hypothetical situation."

The spokesman went on that revealing the identities of those fined may "compromise our commitment to confidentiality and anonymity if that applies."

More to follow...