Partygate: Met Police quizzed by Sue Gray over No10 gatherings

Police officers guarding No10 have reportedly given evidence to the so-called partygate inquiry.

Met officers who patrol Downing Street have been interviewed by civil servant Sue Gray who is heading up an internal investigation into damaging claims staff held lockdown-busting social gatherings defying coronavirus restrictions during the pandemic.

Boris Johnson is facing calls to resign after he apologised for attending an event in the Downing Street garden in May 2020, which he said he “implicitly believed” was work-related.

Further allegations have emerged that staff held two parties on the night before Prince Philip’s funeral, including accusations they brought in a ‘suitcase of booze’ while the nation was in national mourning - just hours before the Queen sat alone during the service.

Now the Telegraph has reported officers from the Met Police, which has come under fire for so far declining to investigate claims of law-breaking in government, have been questioned.

The newspaper reported officers from the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command who were on duty when the gatherings are said to have taken place have spoken to Ms Gray, the cabinet office’s former director of propriety.

It comes as Met commissioner Dame Cressida Dick is set to face a grilling on “partygate” when she is questioned by London assembly members at the policing committee tomorrow.

A source described their evidence as “extremely damning”, the Telegraph have said.

Their reports are said to be “detailed testimonies” about the events, and are thought to form a crucial part of the report, expected to be published within days.

Ms Gray, who is said to have a formidable reputation, has reportedly also spoken to the prime minister, civil service and political staff, and looked at access and diary records.

Her investigation also covers alleged parties in Boris and Carrie Johnson’s No10 flat, while reports say she will interview former aide Dominic Cummings today (Monday, January 24).

It is thought the outcome of the report could prompt more letters of no confidence in the prime minister to be submitted to the Conservative Party’s 1922 committee - which risks triggering Boris Johnson’s removal from office, and a subsequent Tory leadership race.

And the Ministerial Code calls for any frontbench politician who misled parliament to resign.

The Telegraph also reported that officers were “only too willing” to speak to the inquiry and “have been able to provide a lot of information”, and have “nothing to hide”.

A force spokesperson would not confirm whether officers had been interviewed by Ms Gray, but told LondonWorld: “The Met has ongoing contact with the Cabinet Office in relation to this inquiry.”