Partygate: Attendees to be hit with first wave of fines 'imminently'

The Guardian has suggested the fixed penalty notices (FPNs) will be issued “imminently”, while other outlets have reported they are due to surface soon.

The force is investigating 12 events, including six that the Prime Minister is said to have attended.

Last week it was revealed that the detectives investigating alleged parties had begun interviewing key witnesses.

The Metropolitan Police said more than 100 questionnaires had been sent out to people at the reported gatherings.

The gatherings include a “bring your own booze” event, details of which were emailed to staff at No 10 by the Prime Minister’s principal private secretary Martin Reynolds in May 2020, and a surprise get-together for Johnson’s birthday in June 2020.

Boris Johnson previously admitted he attended the “bring your own booze” event for 25 minutes – claiming he believed it was a work event – while Downing Street said staff “gathered briefly” in the Cabinet Room to mark his 56th birthday.

Sue Gray report (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

There was no official update from Downing Street or the Cabinet Office on Monday evening.

ITV’s Anushka Asthana said she had been told the first wave of fines could include “around 20 names”.

The Times reported the same total, adding that it was not thought Johnson would be among them.

The Met said: “We’re not giving a running commentary and I would refer you to our statement from March 21 which is still on our website.”

That statement revealed detectives had started to interview people as witnesses, and said: “As yet, we have not made any referrals to the ACRO Criminal Records Office for the issuing of fixed penalty notices.”

On Monday evening, PA asked the Met if, as the Guardian first reported, the force had made any referrals, to which it responded that it was not going beyond the existing statement “at this time”.