Police in London will not investigate a lockdown-breaking Christmas party alleged to have been held at Downing Street last year due to an “absence of evidence”.
Labour MPs had written to the Metropolitan Police, the city’s force, asking them to prove the gathering understood to have taken place on December 18 while London was under Tier 3 restrictions, which banned social events.
Following days of news reports about the bash and a leaked video which showed a Number 10 aide joking about the rules being broken, officers released a statement to say no action would be taken.
It came after Mr Johnson told MPs in the House of Commons on Wednesday that he was “furious” when he saw the leaked footage and had ordered his cabinet secretary to conduct an internal investigation.
“The Metropolitan Police Service has received a significant amount of correspondence relating to allegations reported in the media that the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulations were breached at gatherings at No 10 Downing Street in November and December 2020,” the force said.
“All this correspondence has been considered by detectives in detail, as well as footage published by ITV News.
“The correspondence and footage does not provide evidence of a breach of the Health Protection Regulations, but restates allegations made in the media. Based on the absence of evidence and in line with our policy not to investigate retrospective breaches of such regulations, the Met will not commence an investigation at this time.”
However, the Met left the door open for an investigation to be launched further down the line if No 10’s probe unearths any evidence that the party was held.
“The Met has had discussions with the Cabinet Office in relation to the investigation by the cabinet secretary If any evidence is found as a result of that investigation, it will be passed to the Met for further consideration,” the force added.
Pressure is piling on Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson to provide answers about the alleged party and he is facing calls to resign. He has not denied that a party took place at Number 10, only saying that Covid rules were abided by at all times.
Allegra Stratton became the first casualty of the affair when she emotionally stood down on Wednesday afternoon after a video emerged of her and other advisers joking about a “fictional” party where guests were served cheese and wine.
The scandal has dealt a serious blow to the Prime Minister’s authority and the government has been warned it has lost public trust.
A poll for Sky News showed just 12 per cent of participants think Mr Johnson is being honest about the party. Labour has said he “lied regularly and repeatedly” about the festive gathering.
On Wednesday night the Conservative party admitted an event organised by Shaun Bailey’s London mayoral campaign took place in the party’s Westminster headquarters on December 14 last year while the capital was in Tier 2 restrictions.
According to The Times, the “raucous” party was held in the HQ’s basement, was attended by No 10 aides and featured dancing and wine-drinking into the early hours despite indoor social mixing being banned at the time.
On Wednesday the Prime Minister imposed his “Plan B” set of coronavirus restrictions, saying they are necessary to curb the spread of the Omicron variant. The new rules include facemasks in cinemas and theatres, working from home orders and vaccine passports in nightclubs.
On Wednesday Health Secretary Sajid Javid was heckled by Conservative MPs amid a backbench rebellion against the government over the new measures and the alleged Christmas party.
Setting out the Plan B rules in the Commons, Mr Javid was told to “resign” by senior Tory MP William Wragg when he confirmed vaccines passports would be introduced at mass gatherings and nightclubs.
Others on the backbench were scathing in their criticism of the government’s decision to tighten rules, shouting “rubbish” and “what a load of tripe” as Mr Javid made his speech.
Sri Lanka v England
First Test, at Galle
England won by 211
Second Test, at Kandy
England won by 57 runs
Third Test, at Colombo
From Nov 23-27
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Wayne Rooney's career
Everton (2002-2004)
- Appearances: 48
- Goals: 17
Manchester United (2004-2017)
- Appearances: 496
- Goals: 253
England (2003-)
- Appearances: 119
- Goals: 53
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Squads
Pakistan: Sarfaraz Ahmed (c), Babar Azam (vc), Abid Ali, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Hasnain, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz
Sri Lanka: Lahiru Thirimanne (c), Danushka Gunathilaka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Avishka Fernando, Oshada Fernando, Shehan Jayasuriya, Dasun Shanaka, Minod Bhanuka, Angelo Perera, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lakshan Sandakan, Nuwan Pradeep, Isuru Udana, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara
RESULTS
Cagliari 5-2 Fiorentina
Udinese 0-0 SPAL
Sampdoria 0-0 Atalanta
Lazio 4-2 Lecce
Parma 2-0 Roma
Juventus 1-0 AC Milan
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
TEAMS
EUROPE:
Justin Rose, Francesco Molinari, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Alex Noren, Thorbjorn Olesen, Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson
USA:
Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Webb Simpson, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau ( 1 TBC)
Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
Read more about the coronavirus
UK's plans to cut net migration
Under the UK government’s proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship.
Skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.
But what are described as "high-contributing" individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.
Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.
Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.
The plans also call for stricter tests for colleges and universities offering places to foreign students and a reduction in the time graduates can remain in the UK after their studies from two years to 18 months.
RESULT
RS Leipzig 3
Marcel Sabitzer 10', 21'
Emil Forsberg 87'
Tottenham 0
Monster
Directed by: Anthony Mandler
Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., John David Washington
3/5
