Met told to answer key partygate questions as storm widens

Shapps insists PM did not mislead MPs over No 10 rule-breaking

- Nicholas Cecil and David Bond

SCOTLAND Yard was plunged deeper into the partygate storm today as Sadiq Khan demanded it explain why Boris Johnson was not fined for attending what appeared to be a leaving party in No10 when Britain was in lockdown.

The Mayor said the Metropolitan Police should provide some justification for the outcome of its investigation into partygate to ensure "trust and confidence" in the force. His intervention came after ITV News published four pictures which reportedly showed the Prime Minister at a leaving do for outgoing director of communications Lee Cain on November 13, 2020, including raising a glass in what appeared to be a toast.

Just days earlier, on November 5, Mr Johnson had imposed the second lockdown on England, meaning people could only meet one other person outside their household or support bubble and it had to be outdoors.

The Prime Minister is believed to have attended several parties in No10 when the country was under lockdown or other Covid restriction rules.

But he has only been fined £50 for one event, as was his wife Carrie and the Chancellor Rishi Sunak, for being at a surprise birthday party for the PM in No10 in June 2020.

Mr Khan, who as Mayor oversees the Met, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It's important, when it comes to trust and confidence, when it comes to policing by consent, when it comes to questions being asked about the integrity of an investigation that the police explain why they've reached the conclusions they have.