‘He’s caught red handed!’ Sadiq Khan furious at Met Police over Boris ‘smoking gun’ photo
Boris Johnson’s photo is a ‘smoking gun’ says Sadiq Khan
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The Mayor of London told Sky News’ Kay Burley that the Prime Minister had been “caught red-handed” breaking the rules and questioned how the Met had not found him guilty of a second fixed penalty notice given that at least one other at the event had been given an FPN. He demanded “urgent clarity” from the Met because “people across the country” will want to know why their lawmakers appear to have been so flippantly disregarding the laws they set.
Mr Khan said: “More than 120 fixed penalty notices have been issued by the police into Downing Street parties.
“No other address as I understand it, in the country, has that many instances of rule-breaking over the recent past.
“I am asking the Met police to provide the urgent clarity that they’ve got to provide not simply because you’re asking the question but because people across the country, not unreasonably, will be saying ‘Hold on a second. I followed all the rules. Those who broke the rules have been fined and here we have a photograph that looks like the Prime Minister caught red-handed breaking the rules’.
“Some would call it a smoking gun, so the police should explain how it is that more fines were not issued.”
There were at least eight other people in the room during former Downing Street director of communications Lee Cain’s leaving drinks on November 13, including Boris Johnson.
At the time, people were banned from social mixing, other than meeting one person outside.
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper has written to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) calling for it to examine the Met’s Operation Hillman inquiry into events in No 10 and Whitehall.
The latest disclosures come as Sue Gray, the senior civil servant who investigated lockdown breaches in Whitehall, is preparing to publish her final report.
Downing Street is understood to believe it is probable it will receive the senior civil servant’s report on Wednesday.
Downing Street released a statement on the situation last night, suggesting that the Met have “concluded their investigation” and that their findings are closed.
A spokeswoman added that the Met had “access to all information relevant” to the investigation, downplaying the significance of the leaked photos.
A Number 10 spokeswoman said: “The Cabinet Office and the Met Police have had access to all information relevant to their investigations, including photographs.
“The Met have concluded their investigation and Sue Gray will publish her report in the coming days, at which point the Prime Minister will address Parliament in full.”
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Transport secretary Grant Shapps said he was “angry” this morning to see the images of the PM.
But he suggested that Mr Johnson had not been fined because he left the event “pretty quick”.
Mr Shapps said: “I think they are disappointing, it makes me angry to see them.
“It looks to me he was asked to go and thank a member of staff who was leaving, raises a glass to them and, I imagine, comes in and out pretty quick, which is presumably why the police have not issued a fixed-penalty notice to the Prime Minister for that event.”
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