THE Deputy Prime Minister has admitted Downing Street staff who were fined over the partygate scandal broke the law – after No 10 refused to acknowledge any illegality.
Dominic Raab, however, denied that Boris Johnson intentionally misled Parliament when he assured MPs no rules had been breached.
On Tuesday, the Metropolitan Police disclosed that 20 fixed penalty notices (FPNs) were being issued in relation to events in No 10 and Whitehall.
That prompted accusations that the Prime Minister had lied to MPs about the lockdown parties, with Labour, the SNP and the LibDems all calling for his resignation.
Yet No 10 refused to even acknowledge that those receiving fines had broken the law. “It’s for the Met to make that judgment, rather than the Prime Minister,” his official spokesperson said.
Asked on Sky News if the issuing of FPNs meant the law had been broken, Raab said: “Yes, inevitably fixed penalty notices [are issued to] those that have breached the regulations.
“We stand by and support the fact that there should be the Met process, the Sue Gray process and accountability.”
Raab added: “The Prime Minister has already taken responsibility for things that shouldn’t have happened in No 10. He has apologised for it, and more than that he has overhauled No 10.
“Of course we wait to see the outcome of the conclusions of the Met process.”
READ MORE: 'Liar' Boris Johnson told to quit as police hand out partygate fines
On December 8, after the initial partygate reports emerged, Johnson insisted in the Commons that the claims were false.
He told MPs: “I have been repeatedly assured since these allegations emerged that there was no party and that no Covid rules were broken."
In total, the UK Government is believed to have insisted at least 39 times in the first fortnight of the scandal that no rules were broken, Insider reports.
Raab was asked whether the Met fines meant Johnson had intentionally misled Parliament, which would constitute a breach of the ministerial code.
The Deputy PM told Times Radio: “No, I don’t think there was an intention to mislead. The Prime Minister in good faith updated Parliament on what he knows.
“Of course, precisely because there were questions around this, the Sue Gray inquiry was set up and precisely because it was right and proper to enable the Met to conduct the investigation that has taken place.
“Of course we accept that those things wouldn’t have happened if there weren’t legitimate questions that have been made.”
Raab went on to claim that Johnson was answering to the best of his knowledge when he told MPs that Covid regulations had not been breached in Downing Street.
“I think it is rather different to say that he lied, which suggests that he was deliberately misleading. The PM has not to date been issued with a fixed penalty notice,” Raab told BBC Breakfast.
“Clearly we had the investigations because of the claims, the assertions that were made, which it was right to follow up, and it is clear there were breaches of the law.
“But to jump from that to say the Prime Minister deliberately misled Parliament rather than answering to the best of his ability is just not right.”
The Met has not confirmed exactly when the fines will be issued by the Criminal Records Office.
The Times reports it could be "several days" before Downing Street and Whitehall staff receive the fines.
Further FPNs are expected to be announced as the investigation progresses, but No 10 has said the identities of recipients will remain secret with two exceptions – Johnson and civil service chief Simon Case.
The Prime Minister and his allies had an indication of public anger about the situation at a party for Tory MPs in London on Tuesday night where bereaved relatives of Covid-19 victims heckled senior Conservatives.
Dozens of grief-stricken relatives who lost loved ones during the pandemic lined up outside the entrance of the Park Plaza hotel, across Westminster Bridge from the House of Commons, to boo guests as they arrived.
The fixed penalty notices being issued by the Met relate to a series of around a dozen events in Downing Street and Whitehall over the course of 2020 and 2021 – including one in the Prime Minister’s flat.
Although Johnson is not thought to be among the first group to be hit with fines, the Met have indicated that they expect to issue more fixed penalty notices as their investigations continue.
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