LONDON: British police on Thursday said they had acted "without fear or favour" while investigating numerous lockdown-busting parties in Downing Street, following criticism that Prime Minister Boris Johnson only received a single fine despite attending more than one of the raucous events.
London's Metropolitan police, which conducted the months-long probe into the so-called "Partygate" scandal, also highlighted that it had issued more than 100 fines to dozens of civil servants and politicians.
"We have not shied away from issuing a fixed penalty notice where we thought it was deserved," Acting Commissioner Stephen House told a London Assembly oversight committee, insisting Johnson had not been shown any leniency.
"I'm not particularly concerned about what the prime minister thinks. I do my job without fear or favour, as did the Met in this situation."
His comments came the day after an internal inquiry confirmed in lurid details that, despite initial government denials, a litany of illegal Downing Street gatherings occurred that saw staff vomit, fight and insult cleaners and security guards.
The publication of the long-awaited report by senior bureaucrat Sue Gray, which also included photos of Johnson giving a toast at an event he was not fined for attending, has renewed pressure on the embattled leader to quit.
Since its release several MPs from his Conservative party have called publicly for his resignation, but the Tory leader is refusing.
Johnson has argued that while he "bitterly" regretted the rule-breaking and ensuing police fines, he did not realise his own government's Covid regulations were being breached and that it was now time to move on.
On Thursday, he apologised to Downing Street cleaners and security guards after Gray's report found they had suffered "multiple examples of a lack of respect and poor treatment" from partying civil servants.
Johnson's official spokesman was also forced to apologise himself after repeatedly insisting over the last six months that no rules were broken during Britain's intermittent Covid lockdowns between March, 2020, and last year.
"He apologised to a number of staff yesterday. He spoke to more this morning. He was appalled by that behaviour," the spokesman said regarding the security and cleaning staff.
Downing Street rules have already been changed to forbid in-office drinking except for social functions with outside guests, he said.
Opinion polls indicate deep public disapproval, with two snap surveys Wednesday finding big majorities of people think Johnson should resign and that he had knowingly lied about "Partygate."
But outside an election, Conservative MPs are the only people able to force Johnson from office.
He met late Wednesday with Tory backbenchers, reportedly arguing that heavy-drinking predecessor Winston Churchill would not have been able to win World War II if Downing Street had imposed a total booze ban at the time.
A total of 19 Tory MPs have publicly called for Johnson's resignation, but others are believed to be holding back due to the war in Ukraine. Fifty-four letters of no-confidence are needed to trigger a leadership ballot.
John Baron, one of the three MPs who came forward after the report's publication, accused Johnson of misleading parliament and said he "no longer enjoys my support."
The prime minister still faces a House of Commons inquiry into whether he deliberately misled MPs with his repeated denials of rule-breaking.
Meanwhile, an opposition lawmaker has asked the independent police watchdog to review the Met's investigation, following the criticism of Johnson's sole fine.
House confirmed the London force was "in discussion" with the watchdog "as to whether or not they will" launch a review.
The acting commissioner noted that the Met had to assess whether an event could have been work-related, despite the presence of alcohol.
"We deal with the law, not what looks bad," he said.
"A photograph can be somewhat deceptive in these areas. We need evidence and there needs to be proof there is no reasonable excuse behind what was going on."--AFP