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Boris Johnson gives police questionnaire on alleged Covid violations

Boris Johnson was handed a police questionnaire on Friday about alleged violations of Covid-19 lockdown rules, confirming that he is under formal investigation into the so-called “party” Work.

Number 10 declined to say how many specific incidents the questionnaire involved: Johnson is said to have attended half of the 12 events being investigated by the Metropolitan Police.

Johnson’s personal attorney received the police documents by email at 9:30 p.m. Friday and has seven days to respond; In fact, he is expected to have until Monday, February 21 to complete it.

Sources close to the investigation say more than 80 questionnaires have been submitted as part of the police investigation, including at parties in Downing Street and throughout Whitehall during the Covid lockdown.

“We can confirm that the prime minister has now received the questionnaire from the Metropolitan Police and will respond upon request,” a Downing Street spokesman said.

Sir John Major, the former prime minister, said this week he believes Johnson has broken Covid laws and must resign if he is found to have deceived parliament. Johnson told MPs he was assured that “no partying”.

Johnson’s biggest danger comes from a ruling by Conservative MPs, if he is found to have broken his own Covid rules.

Many Tory MPs are awaiting the outcome of the investigate police before deciding whether to request a vote of no confidence in the prime minister.

Johnson’s allies believe that the number of Tory MPs who have sent letters calling for a vote of no confidence has reached 40; a total of 54 is required to trigger a vote.

A senior ally of Johnson was told by the Times that police would have to be “very certain” that he had breached lockdown rules before issuing a fixed penalty notice to him. “There is definitely a degree of discretion here,” they said. “Do you want the Metropolitan Police to decide who is the prime minister? They must be very sure. ”

The comment brought widespread political criticism. Sir Bob Neill, Conservative chairman of the Commons justice committee, stressed that “any proposal to exert political pressure on police is absolutely reprehensible”.

Downing Street responded to this request on Friday: “This government has always supported the police and fully respects their complete independence to carry out investigations without fear or favor.”

Adam Wagner, a human rights lawyer, tweeted: “Fixed penalty notices can only be given if police believe someone has committed a criminal offense under the coronavirus regulations.”

Wagner said this week the most likely punishment police would issue would be a fixed penalty notice, with increasing fines for many crimes.

“If he were told the fixed penalty for each and all of that, I think he would have been given such accruals until the final figure would have been £6,400,” Wagner said. .

The The Met is investigating at least 12 events may have violated the lock rule. On Wednesday it said it was considering adding a 13th event – a Downing Street Christmas trivia in 2020 – after a photo emerged showing an open bottle of wine at the event.

Following Downing Street’s confirmation of receipt of the questionnaire on Friday night, the Metropolitan Police declined to answer questions about the total number of questionnaires submitted during the investigation, which it dubbed Operation Hillman.

It also declined to disclose the number of events in which the prime minister faced questions.

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