The British police have announced further investigations into the “Partygate” affair surrounding celebrations during the corona pandemic. For a Tory MP, those could be particularly awkward.
There is simply no peace in the scandal surrounding the British “Partygate” affair: the Metropolitan Police have now announced that they will initiate further investigations into two celebrations that are said to have taken place during the corona lockdown in 2020.
The impetus for the first announced investigation was a video that recently became public. It is said to show footage of a party said to have taken place on December 14, 2020 at Tory party headquarters. The pictures also show the then Conservative mayoral candidate for London, Shaun Bailey.
Case number two in the new investigations revolves around a celebration that was said to have taken place in the British Parliament almost a week earlier: on December 8, 2020, members of the Upper and Lower Houses celebrated together there, apparently a birthday party.
Allegations against Johnson critic Jenkin
One of the alleged guests at the party in early December is now particularly in focus: MP Bernard Jenkin. The conservative politician sits on a parliamentary committee of inquiry in the House of Commons, which just a few weeks ago reprimanded ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson – because he is said to have repeatedly lied to Parliament about the “Partygate” affair and his participation in celebrations during the lockdown. The panel even recommended Johnson’s suspension as MP. However, Johnson forestalled this by resigning from the post himself.
Now Jenkin is also being accused of violating the corona requirements by participating in the celebration on December 8th during the pandemic. Johnson has already called for Jenkin to step down as an MP immediately.
Good news for Johnson
As a consequence of the “Partygate” affair, 126 fines have been imposed so far. In addition to Johnson, the current British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was ordered to pay a fine. He was Treasury Secretary during Johnson’s tenure as Prime Minister.
For Johnson, the Metropolitan Police’s latest announcement is also good news. There will be no investigations into alleged further celebrations held at Downing Street and at a country residence owned by the then Prime Minister. Investigations have shown that these allegations “retrospectively do not meet the criteria for initiating an investigation”.