The London Metropolitan Police, known around the world as Scotland Yard, must confirm again whether Boris Johnson broke the confinement rules imposed during the pandemic. The former prime minister is currently under investigation in the Ethics and Privileges committee of the British Parliament for alleged perjury: for having lied or concealed the truth, in his appearances before the House of Commons, about his knowledge of the prohibited parties in Downing Street during confinement.
Paradoxically, it has been the very lawyers who defend Johnson in the commission —financed by the current government of Rishi Sunak— who have raised the alarm. When preparing the defense of the former prime minister, they reviewed the official journals of his tenure and found that visits by relatives and friends of Johnson and his wife, Carrie, had been recorded, both to Downing Street and to Checkers, the rest residence at his disposal. of the British head of government. Obliged by law to alert of a possible criminal offense, the lawyers passed the information to the Cabinet Office, something similar to the Spanish Ministry of the Presidency, as the central coordinator of the activity of the prime minister and the entire Government. Senior office officials in turn forwarded the information to the Metropolitan Police and the Thames Valley Police, the two security departments under whose jurisdiction the alleged offenses committed by Johnson would be.
“During the process of preparing the evidence that had to be submitted for consideration by the covid investigation [realizada por la comisión parlamentaria] New information emerged,” a spokesperson for the office explained. In accordance with the obligations established by the civil service code [altos funcionarios]said material has been sent to the relevant authorities and the matter is their exclusive responsibility”.
Johnson’s lawyers, while transmitting the information to senior officials —revealed for the first time by The Times newspaper— wanted to make clear in writing their consideration that “the events referred to had been in accordance with the law and did not constitute bankruptcy.” of the regulations imposed as a result of covid-19″, as explained by a spokesperson for the former prime minister. Neither Downing Street nor any of the current government ministers were informed before the matter was handed over to the police. Scotland Yard has assured in a statement that it was “currently evaluating” the information received on May 19, which “refers to potential breaches of health protection regulations between June 2020 and May 2021 in Downing Street. In turn, the Thames Valley Police have assured The Times that they had “received information of potential breaches of the regulations”, also on the same dates, but at the Checkers residence.
Johnson’s allies, from anonymity, have denounced this new investigation as a maneuver to end the career of the popular politician. If the parliamentary commission imposed a suspension as a deputy for more than 10 days on the former prime minister, it would automatically lead to the calling of local elections for the Uxbridge constituency, which Johnson currently represents. In all probability, the local conservative group would not choose him as a candidate again and would deal a fatal and final blow to a race that Johnson has not yet given up on reviving in the medium term.
The so-called partygate — the scandal of drinking parties in Downing Street during the lockdown — was a fundamental factor in the resignation and fall from grace of Johnson, who became the prime minister convicted of breaking the law during his term. Both he and his wife Carrie, and the then Minister of the Economy, Rishi Sunak, were fined for participating in the June 2020 birthday party in Johnson’s own honor. More than eighty members of the then prime minister’s team suffered the same fate. The Metropolitan Police came to impose 126 fines.
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