Cressida Dick confirms any Downing Street rulebreakers – including Boris Johnson – would probably only be fined £100 even if they are found guilty over No10 parties – as PM refuses to say whether he will quit if he is among those punished

• Ex-premier accused the Prime Minister of using ‘brazen excuses’ on Partygate
• Johnson today refused to say if he will resign if he is found to have broken law 
• Major said ministers ‘were sent out to defend the indefensible’ over law-breaking
• Added: ‘Collectively, this has made the Government look distinctly shifty’

Cressida Dick appeared to rule out any punishment stronger than a fine for Boris Johnson over Partygate today – as he refused to confirm he would quit if found to have broken the law. 

Scotland Yard is sending formal questionnaires to more than 50 people to ask them to give an account of their involvement, with the documents due to start arriving by the end of this week.

The questionnaire will have ‘formal legal status’ and ‘must be answered truthfully’, with people given seven days to reply.

The force has said that in most cases contact is being made via email which means people will dodge a formal interview and policing sources told The Times that Mr Johnson is likely to receive a questionnaire.

Previously, experts have warned that lying on the forms could be seen as perverting the course of justice. 

But speaking to BBC London today, Dame Cressida mentioned only fixed penalty notices, likely to carry fines of around £100. 

She told the station she recognises the scandal of parties at No 10 has ‘hugely disgusted’ members of the public, adding: ‘You’ll be aware that although I said we wouldn’t be giving a running commentary we would at significant moments update the public…

‘Yesterday, my investigators did put out an update to say that we will be writing with a questionnaire to over 50 people as as part of that investigation to ask them to account for what they were doing. 

‘And clearly, some, but probably not all, of those people may very well end up with a ticket.

It came as former Conservative prime minister Sir John Major launched a brutal attack on ‘shifty’ Mr Johnson, accusing him of breaking Covid laws at the Downing Street parties in 2020 and 2021.

The former premier, a longstanding critic of Mr Johnson, used a speech on democracy to accuse the Prime Minister of using ‘brazen excuses’ over Partygate to try to ‘defend the indefensible’.

The PM today refused to say if he will resign if he is found to have broken the law over Partygate as he and Number 10 staff nervously wait for police letters to arrive. 

Speaking at a military base in Poland he said Sir John’s claims were ‘demonstrably untrue’. 

The former premier, a longstanding critic of Mr Johnson, used a speech on democracy to accuse the Prime Minister of using ‘brazen excuses’ over Partygate to try to ‘defend the indefensible’.

The PM today refused to say if he will resign if he is found to have broken the law over Partygate as he and Number 10 staff nervously wait for police letters to arrive.

A new picture emerged yesterday of Mr Johnson allegedly attending a Downing Street Christmas quiz

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick suggested some of those in No10  being contacted by officers will end up with fines

Major slams ‘un-British’ treatment of migrants

John Major lashed out at treatment of migrants by Boris Johnson’s government, branding it ‘un-British’.

Priti Patel’s Nationality and Borders Bill is being heralded as the biggest shake-up of the asylum system for a generation. 

UK Border Force will also be able to seize boats at sea, and to forcibly disembark migrants from boats when necessary.

Migrants who enter the UK without permission will face potential criminal charges and up to four years in prison. 

But Sir John said: ‘Can it really be a crime to be frightened; homeless; desperate; destitute; fleeing from persecution, or war, or famine, or hardship; and to cross half the world on foot and dangerous waters in an unsafe boat, in the hope of finding a better life?

‘Of course, if the numbers are too large, this creates an appalling problem for local communities. But surely, to seek sanctuary from an unbearable life cannot – morally – be treated as a crime?

‘Prison – for these refugees – is punishment without compassion.

‘I do sympathise with the awful problem facing the Government. But these proposals are not natural justice, and are decidedly un-British.’ 

The Metropolitan Police has started the process of contacting up to 50 people who are alleged to have attended events in Whitehall. 

Dame Cressida  said she could not comment on whether officers at Downing Street knew about alleged parties. 

Speaking to Eddie Nestor on BBC Radio London, she said: ‘It would be quite wrong for me to comment on whether anyone who works for the Met did or did not know what you describe as ‘what’s going on’ because that is part of the investigation.

‘But I would say one thing to you, which is that my officers are there primarily, with firearms, to keep people safe from terrorists, from armed attackers and the like. That is their primary job.

‘I do not ask them, and I’m not going to start asking them, to patrol the corridors of Whitehall looking for, you know, what might be going on in offices.

‘That is not appropriate. We don’t do it in any other environment. We wouldn’t come marching into the BBC to do that and so we need to see, we need to find out what they saw, what they knew, what they did, if anything, and I assure you that will come out as part of the investigation.’

In a wide-ranging attack on Mr Johnson’s government Sir John also hit out at Brexit and the treatment of migrants crossing the English Channel, saying that locking them up was ‘un-British’ and amounted to ‘punishment without compassion’.

Speaking at the Institute for Government in London today he said: ‘At No10, the Prime Minister and officials broke lockdown laws.

‘Brazen excuses were dreamed up. Day after day the public was asked to believe the unbelievable. Ministers were sent out to defend the indefensible – making themselves look gullible or foolish. 

‘Collectively, this has made the Government look distinctly shifty, which has consequences that go far beyond political unpopularity.

‘No Government can function properly if its every word is treated with suspicion.’

A Government minister has admitted that Conservative MPs are ‘incandescent’ with rage about the Partygate scandal.

Solicitor-General Alex Chalk said that he was ‘deeply disappointed’ by the revelations and warned Boris Johnson that ‘seeking to weather a storm cannot be enough’.

In a letter to constituents, he told voters that despite the publication of Sue Gray’s interim report the problem of Downing Street parties was ‘not over’.

The Times quoted the letter as saying: ‘I am deeply disappointed — and frankly dismayed — by what has been uncovered about events in Downing Street.

‘I am not alone. Laura Kuenssberg [political editor at the BBC] said in her blog: ‘There are Conservative MPs who are incandescent’. That is absolutely true.’

Mr Chalk has a majority of just 981 in his constituency of Cheltenham, which voted to remain in the European Union in 2016.

He was persuaded not to resign from Johnson’s front bench at a meeting with the PM last week amid reports that he was uneasy about the Partygate drama.

Mr Chalk refused to reveal whether he had submitted a letter of no-confidence to the 1922 Committee, saying it was a ‘private’ decision.

But Johnson allies hit back, with minister Lord Goldsmith – a close friend of the PM’s wife – tweeting: ‘A stale old corporatist who delivered seven years of autopilot government and a thumping defeat at the polls… and is still struggling to come to terms with the country’s decision to leave the EU. 

‘John Major’s intervention has zero to do with Covid rules (or democracy!)’ 

And Stuart Anderson, the Tory MP for Wolverhampton South West, tweeted the former leader’s name accompanied by yawning and sleeping emojis.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said Mr Johnson had not been contacted by police and that he would not receive ‘bespoke personal legal advice’ from Government lawyers. 

In his speech Sir John lashed out at treatment of migrants by Boris Johnson’s government, branding it ‘un-British’.

He urged a rethink of Priti Patel’s Nationality and Borders Bill, which is being heralded as the biggest shake-up of the asylum system for a generation. 

Migrants who enter the UK without permission will face potential criminal charges and up to four years in prison. 

Sir John Major, one of the most senior Brexit critics, also lashed out at the handling of problems in Northern Ireland centred on the Northern Ireland Protocol agreed last year.

He branded it ‘arguably one of the worst pieces of negotiation we have seen in recent history’, adding: ‘It helps to understand treaties before you sign them.’

Downing Street declined to comment on Sir John’s claims while a police investigation is ongoing. 

Asked if the Government was shifty the PM’s official spokesman said: ‘The Prime Minister wanted the full details of this to be looked into firstly by Sue Gray and he wants the Met investigation to be concluded as well. 

‘The Prime Minister initiated the investigation into these events.’ 

Sir John added: ‘Where Governments fall short, candour is the best means of binding up support.

‘But that candour must be freely offered – not dragged out under the searchlight of Inquiries. If it is not whole-hearted and convincing, the loss of public trust can be swift and unforgiving.

PM eyes ‘Samantha the Panther’ for key role in his top team 

Boris Johnson is said to have tapped up the fierce Australian former private secretary to the Queen – who quit after being put under alleged ‘extreme stress’ by Meghan Markle and Prince Harry – to become his Downing Street ‘gatekeeper’ and bring order to No 10.

Samantha Cohen, who relished her soubriquet ‘Samantha the Panther’ because of her no-nonsense approach at work, is said to be being wooed by the Prime Minister to control who has access to the Tory leader.

Mr Johnson has started a bonfire of his senior aides as he fights for his political life due to the party-mad culture in Downing Street during lockdown.

Mrs Cohen, a mother-of-three who worked for the royals for 18 years, is said to have been approached for a Director of Government Relations role also managing the PM’s diary – a post not filled since David Cameron was in power.

While working at Buckingham Palace she enjoyed a meteoric rise from junior press officer to the Queen’s assistant private secretary in just eight years. She was then parachuted in to Kensington Palace to help Meghan Markle navigate through her first months as a royal after marrying Harry in 2018.

But the move to support the Sussexes would end in acrimony for the tough Aussie, described by friends and colleagues as ‘completely dedicated to the Royal Family’.

Originally from Brisbane, Ms Cohen had planned to quit Buckingham Palace in 2018 but agreed to stay on to aid Meghan. But she left in 2019 amid claims of bullying of staff by the Duchess of Sussex. One source at the time said that she had been ‘treated terribly’. Meghan has always denied she was a bully – blaming smears from Buckingham Palace staff.

‘We have seen that playing out in recent weeks. Trust in politics is at a low ebb, eroded by foolish behaviour and leaving a sense of unease about how our politics is being conducted.

‘Too often, Ministers have been evasive, and the truth has been optional.’

It is sending formal questionnaires to more than 50 people to ask them to give an account of their involvement, with the documents due to start arriving by the end of this week.   

The questionnaire will have ‘formal legal status’ and ‘must be answered truthfully’, with people given seven days to reply. 

The force has said that in most cases contact is being made via email which means people will dodge a formal interview and policing sources told The Times that Mr Johnson is likely to receive a questionnaire. 

Asked during a NATO press conference in Brussels this morning if he will resign if he is found to have broken the law, Mr Johnson said: ‘On your point about what’s going on at home, that process must be completed and I’m looking forward to it being completed, and that’s the time to say more on that.’

The Met is investigating 12 events in total and reports have claimed that Mr Johnson attended six of them.

If the explanation given by recipients is not judged by the police to constitute a ‘reasonable excuse’ then fixed penalty notices could be issued. 

It came as a new poll conducted by Redfield and Wilton Strategies for MailOnline found two thirds (66 per cent) of the British public believe Mr Johnson should resign as PM if he is found to have breached coronavirus regulations and is fined by the police. 

Police investigators probing Downing Street party allegations are issuing 50 people with ‘questionnaires’ about their whereabouts and what they were doing.

Yvette Cooper, Labour’s shadow home secretary, said: ‘I think that these are really damning comments from a former Conservative prime minister.

‘But what it shows is what everybody else is thinking across the country.

‘You’ve got a Prime Minister who has been dishonest, who has been disregarding the rules that he set, disrespecting people across the country who have been following those rules who have been acting in good faith.

‘And I think really undermining the whole trust in the office of the Prime Minister and that is really damaging for us both at home and abroad and that is why I think John Major is exactly right.’

Scotland Yard rules out probe into ‘blackmail’ threats to MPs

Police will not be investigating allegations that No 10 ‘blackmailed’ MPs who were said to be plotting to remove Boris Johnson from office, it was revealed today.

Scotland Yard said that no investigation was necessary because ‘no criminal offences have been identified’ after backbencher William Wragg claimed embarrassing stories about Tory rebels were leaked to the press by ministers.

Mr Wragg said Downing Street staff and ministers had been ‘encouraging the publication of stories in the press seeking to embarrass those who they suspect of lacking confidence in the Prime Minister’.

The senior Tory and vice chair of the 1922 committee had said the allegations ‘seem to constitute blackmail’. MailOnline understands he spoke directly with Met Police officers about his claims.

But Scotland Yard said on Wednesday that after assessment by specialist detectives, there had been no forthcoming evidence of ‘inappropriate influence being exerted on MPs’.

Sir John said that, while the vast majority of elected politicians do not knowingly mislead, the behaviour of those who do is tarnishing the reputation of politics and of Parliament.

‘If lies become commonplace, truth ceases to exist. What and who, then, can we believe? The risk is nothing and no-one. And where are we then?’

He said all this is taking place against the backdrop of the Prime Minister being investigated for several apparent breaches of the ministerial code.

‘He chose to ignore critical reports on his ministers; rejected advice from his independent adviser on ministerial standards – who resigned; and attempted – but failed – to overturn a unanimous Standards Select Committee Report that condemned the behaviour of a parliamentary colleague and friend,’ he said.

‘It may be possible to find excuses for each of these lapses – and others – but all of them, taken together, tell a different tale. 

‘The Prime Minister and our present Government not only challenge the law, but also seem to believe that they – and they alone – need not obey the rules, traditions, conventions – call them what you will – of public life.

‘The charge that there is one law for the Government and one for everyone else is politically deadly – and it has struck home.’

Meanwhile, a Government minister, the Solicitor General Alex Chalk, has reportedly refused to say whether he has submitted a letter of no confidence in Mr Johnson’s leadership.   

In a letter to constituents, seen by The Times, Mr Chalk said he was ‘deeply disappointed’ and ‘frankly dismayed by what has been uncovered about events in Downing Street’.  

He reportedly refused to say whether he had submitted a letter of no confidence, saying it was a ‘private’ decision. 

The minister is said to have had a meeting with the PM last week and was apparently persuaded not to quit. 

Elsewhere, it emerged that the Met is considering whether to investigate the funding of the lavish refurbishment of Mr Johnson’s official Downing Street flat following a complaint by lawyers acting for the Labour Party.

In a letter to Scotland Yard, the solicitors said there was a ‘reasonable suspicion’ that the Prime Minister had broken anti-bribery laws which the force was ‘duty-bound’ to investigate.

The Met has said it is sending formal questionnaires to more than 50 people in Whitehall, with the documents due to arrive by the end of this week

The Solicitor General Alex Chalk, has reportedly refused to say whether he has submitted a letter of no confidence in Mr Johnson’s leadership

The Met confirmed they had received the letter which was being considered by officers from its Central Specialist Crime Command.

The complaint follows the release last month of an exchange of WhatsApp messages between the Prime Minister and Tory donor Lord Brownlow.

They show that Mr Johnson discussed a proposal supported by the peer for a Great Exhibition 2.0 at the same time as requesting his help with the £112,000 revamp of his official residence.

Ministerial records show that two months later, Lord Brownlow, who is a trustee of Royal Albert Hall Trust, attended a meeting with the then culture secretary Oliver Dowden to discuss the exhibition plan.

In a letter, seen by the Guardian, lawyers said that despite inquiries by the Electoral Commission and Mr Johnson’s adviser on ministerial interests, Lord Geidt, there were still matters that were ‘uninvestigated and unconsidered’.

A Met spokesman said: ‘A letter was received and acknowledged on Friday February 4. It is being considered by officers from the Met’s Central Specialist Crime Command. No investigation has been opened.’

In response to the claims in the letter, a Number 10 spokesman said: ‘These allegations are categorically untrue and a clear misrepresentation of the facts.’

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