No new ‘Partygate’ probe against Johnson: police

LONDON: Boris Johnson will not face another formal probe into allegations that he broke Covid lockdown laws at the UK prime minister´s country residence, police announced on Tuesday. Officers said in May that they were looking into possible rule-breaking at Chequers involving Johnson, his family and friends, at a time when legal limits on social gatherings were in place.

Other “potential breaches” at Downing Street of the laws the government ordered the public to follow were also assessed.

But in a joint statement, Thames Valley Police and London´s Metropolitan Police said the events, alleged to have taken place between June 2020 and May 2021, “do not meet the retrospective criteria for opening an investigation”.

Johnson, 59, and more than 120 government officials, previously received police fines for holding a series of gatherings at Downing Street during the pandemic. The revelations caused public outrage and contributed to his resignation last July. He insisted the latest accusations were false.