Undisclosed Covid-era Johnson events occurred at both Chequers and Downing Street

 

Undisclosed Covid-era Johnson events occurred at both Chequers and Downing Street

 

As Johnson allies allege politically motivated stitch up, government sources say approximately 12 potentially illegal events were reported to police

 

Aubrey Allegretti

@breeallegretti

Wed 24 May 2023 20.37 BST

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/may/24/undisclosed-covid-era-johnson-events-occurred-at-both-chequers-and-downing-street

 

About a dozen previously undisclosed gatherings at both Chequers and Downing Street allegedly held during Covid have been referred to the police by civil servants, the Guardian has been told.

 

Further details of the new Partygate accusations emerged as Boris Johnson’s allies launched a furious fightback, forcing Downing Street to deny he was the victim of a politically motivated stitch up.

 

Government sources said approximately 12 potentially illegal events formed the basis of a dossier handed over to two police forces last week. While it was initially thought they were all held at the prime minister’s Buckinghamshire grace-and-favour mansion Chequers, insiders said they also took place in No 10.

 

They were said to include events which did not form part of the Met police’s investigation last year, nor the Whitehall inquiry led by then-senior civil servant Sue Gray.

 

After Johnson’s allies made clear their fury at the situation, No 10 stressed Rishi Sunak had no involvement in the decision to hand over the former prime minister’s pandemic diaries.

 

“We have not seen the information or material in question,” said Sunak’s official spokesperson on Wednesday, adding that ministers had “no involvement in this process and were only made aware after the police had been contacted”.

 

Police were contacted on 16 May about the issue, according to the Cabinet Office. Thames Valley police said they received a report about “potential breaches” of Covid rules on 18 May, while Scotland Yard said the bundle was passed to it the following day.

 

Sunak found out the police had been informed at some point between 19 May and the facts becoming public on 23 May, No 10 said, without offering a specific date.

 

 

Downing Street refused to say whether Johnson would lose the Conservative whip should he be charged with further lockdown breaches, with Sunak’s press secretary saying No 10 would not respond to questions about the “hypothetical” scenario.

 

However, they were much more categorical that Sunak had not attended the events in contention at Chequers. Asked whether the then chancellor broke Covid rules there, the press secretary said: “No, definitely not.” They also rejected suggestions Johnson was the victim of a politically motivated stitch up.

 

Earlier, Johnson’s allies issued a dramatic warning to Sunak, saying they would meet on Wednesday to “consider options” about how to force the government to stop “witch-hunts”.

 

They upped the ante on the already febrile Tory benches by calling the decision to hand over evidence of gatherings at Chequers during Covid the “final straw”.

 

Johnson’s supporters accused Cabinet Office ministers of having signed off the decision to pass on the former prime minister’s diaries to police. This was denied by both the justice secretary, Alex Chalk, and the Cabinet Office.

 

Chalk suggested officials would have been criticised whether they had passed on the documents or chosen to withhold them, adding: “Whether it was the right judgment turns on what’s in those documents.”

 

A spokesperson for the Cabinet Office added: “Ministers played no role in deciding whether the information should be handed over to the police.”

 

Johnson had given the government legal department – instructed by the Cabinet Office – a number of documents as they prepared his defence for the official public inquiry into the pandemic.

 

However, when concerns were flagged to senior officials in the Cabinet Office, they felt obliged under the civil service code to refer the material to the police.

 

Johnson has threatened to sue the Cabinet Office in retaliation, according to the Daily Mail.

 

Johnson is still subject to an investigation by the privileges committee, which is looking into whether he misled parliament and can levy a sanction if it finds he did. A suspension from parliament could lead to a byelection.

 

The seven-member committee, with a Tory majority and Labour chair, met on Wednesday. Despite concerns about progressing with its inquiry given the prospect of another police investigation being launched, the committee were said to have received legal advice confirming they were safe to proceed.

 

They hope to have delivered their final verdict in the form of a report by the end of June, sources said.

 

Labour has called for Sunak’s government to stop using taxpayers’ money to cover Johnson’s legal costs.

 

Anneliese Dodds, the Labour chair, told Sky News the prime minister seemed to be “too weak to stand up to interest in his party” and there was a “very clear” moral argument for blocking Johnson receiving any more public support while he made millions from his post-No 10 speaking circuit.