THE Metropolitan Police did not send Boris Johnson questionnaires over two partygate gatherings before deciding to fine him, court documents have revealed.
The Good Law Project, who are currently suing the Met over its “failure” to properly investigate partygate, shared their grounds of claim and the Met’s defense on Monday ahead of the case being heard.
In the Met’s defense, they revealed that while investigating gatherings on two key dates - November 13 2020 and December 17 2020 - they did not send a questionnaire to Johnson to establish his version of events before deciding not to fine him.
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The Good Law Project also said that the Met has failed to “provide any explanation of how they cleared the Prime Minister” in their legal defense.
The force admitted they did send Johnson a questionnaire regarding the January 14 2021 gathering to mark the departure of two private secretaries but the police later determined this event did not breach rules in place at the time.
The November 13 events, one to mark the departure of a special adviser and a separate send off for Dominic Cummings in the Downing Street flat, which Carrie Johnson denies took place, have come under scrutiny.
The spad’s leaving do was also infamously caught on camera; with ITV revealing photographs of the PM drinking with others whilst the rest of the country lived under strict lockdown rules.
The second event in December 17 related to a party in Number 10 to mark the departure of an official. On the same day a leaving party was held at the Cabinet Office for the outgoing head of the civil service Covid task force, and an online Christmas quiz for the Cabinet Secretary’s private office also took place on that day.
In the Met’s legal submission, they state: “The Defendant can confirm that he did not send a questionnaire to the Prime Minister in respect of the gatherings on 13 November 2020 and 17 December 2020, but he did send the Prime Minister a questionnaire in respect of the gathering on 14 January 2021.”
In the end, Johnson was only fined once for the event where he was “ambushed” by a birthday cake in the cabinet room of Downing Street, with then-Chancellor Rishi Sunak being given a financial penalty too.
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The Good Law Project said that it was only after they threatened the police force with legal action in January 2022 that they finally agreed to investigate, leading to the PMs fine.
Writing on their website where they shared the legal documentation, they said: “The public has a right to know what really went on inside the Partygate investigation. The Met’s actions have raised grave concerns about the deferential way in which they are policing those in power.”
They added: “Our challenge is grounded in a single, simple idea: for the law to have any meaning, it must apply equally to us all. The Met must explain their seeming lack of action in this matter.
“We won’t stop until the full story is uncovered.”
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) said: “The Op Hillman investigation has concluded and the MPS will not comment on investigative steps taken in the course of that investigation.
“We can confirm that the MPS has filed submissions in response to an application filed at the High Court seeking a judicial review of decision-making pertaining to the Op Hillman investigation.”
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