Boris Johnson allies accuse Cabinet Office of wilfully losing police time
Boris Johnson‘s allies are wanting on the chance the Cabinet Office may very well be losing police time over contemporary claims of potential lockdown breaches through the Covid pandemic.
Civil servants referred data to 2 police forces after a evaluate of the ex-PM’s official diary.
Mr Johnson – who was pressured out of No 10 final 12 months partly as a result of Partygate row – has denied the allegations, with a spokesman branding it a “politically motivated stitch-up”.
And sources near him tonight stated they had been wanting on the chance the Cabinet Office could also be losing police time.
They identified that the offence is itself punishable by a set penalty discover.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson has had enough and will fight back say friends
Mr Johnson was reported to the Metropolitan Police and Thames Valley Police after diary entries supposedly raised new considerations over occasions at Chequers and Downing Street.
Cabinet Office officers handed data over to the 2 forces following a evaluate of his official diary by taxpayer-funded legal professionals forward of the Covid public inquiry.
The Privileges Committee, which is conducting a probe into whether or not Mr Johnson lied to Parliament about Partygate, has additionally been knowledgeable.
Mr Johnson – who was slapped with a wonderful in April final 12 months for breaking lockdown guidelines after attending a gathering on his birthday in June 2020 – has since ditched the Government-appointed legal professionals.
No 10 has insisted Rishi Sunak and ministers weren’t concerned within the choice to buy the 58-year-old to the police.
Former Downing Street director of communication Guto Harri yesterday stated some individuals have turn out to be “addicted” to the Partygate saga following the newest improvement.
Mr Harri instructed The News Agents podcast: “Some people have just got addicted to Partygate and their appetite to express their rage over it and try to, sort of, exact revenge upon Boris Johnson in particular will never be satiated.”
A Cabinet Office spokesperson stated: “The Cabinet Office has not made any assessment or conducted any investigation of the material that has been passed to the police.
“Ministers performed no position in deciding whether or not the knowledge ought to be handed over to the police.
“The police were first contacted on May 16 prior to any minister being made aware.
“The choice to contact the police and the following choice to share the knowledge was not made by ministers however by officers performing in step with the Civil Service Code.”