Metropolitan Police to review No 10 quiz decision after Boris Johnson photo leak

The Metropolitan Police will review its decision not to investigate a Christmas quiz in No 10 after a picture of Boris Johnson was leaked to the press.

The photo, published by the Daily Mirror, showed the PM standing next to a bottle of bubbly alongside staff.

The newspaper said the photo was taken on 15 December 2020 - while Covid restrictions were in place - during a No 10 "virtual" Christmas quiz.

But it is not one of the parties currently under police investigation.

The Met said its inquiry into alleged breaches of Covid-19 regulations in Downing Street and Whitehall has been named Operation Hillman.

Officers will send formal questionnaires to more than 50 people, starting by the end of this week, in relation to eight dates that are being investigated between 20 May 2020 and 16 April 2021.

"This document, which asks for an account and explanation of the recipient's participation in an event, has formal legal status and must be answered truthfully," the Met said.

In most cases the questionnaire will be sent by email and must be answered in seven days, the force said.

Labour MPs called on Mr Johnson to refer the virtual quiz to the Met after the photo surfaced, but the PM said the force had already examined the event as part of their investigations.

The prime minister's spokesman later insisted to reporters that the gathering in the picture was a "virtual quiz".

But the police then released a statement, saying: "The [Met] previously assessed this event and determined that on the basis of the evidence available at that time, it did not meet the threshold for criminal investigation.

"That assessment is now being reviewed."

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The Met is currently investigating 12 parties in Downing Street and Whitehall over the course of the pandemic - some of which the PM attended - to see if Covid regulations were broken.

But the event on 15 December 2020 is not one of them, having previously not been considered by the force to have reached the threshold.

It was looked into as part of the independent inquiry into the parties by senior civil servant Sue Gray, who has only published her initial findings while the Met carries out its work.

No 10 was unable to say whether the photograph had been submitted to Ms Gray in evidence, adding: "I'm not going to get into precise evidence but she obviously had access to all the evidence she needed."

A picture from the same event was leaked to the Mirror last December, showing the PM sitting at a table with two colleagues, but without any alcohol.

At the time, No 10 said the PM only "briefly took part virtually" to thank staff for their work during the pandemic.

Sources told the BBC invites were sent out in advance via email and, while some joined virtually, others were grouped together in a room.

At the time of the event, London was under Tier Two restrictions, which banned mixing of households indoors - apart from support bubbles - and allowed a maximum of six people to meet outside.

Official guidance said: "Although there are exemptions for work purposes, you must not have a work Christmas lunch or party, where that is a primarily social activity and is not otherwise permitted by the rules in your tier."

Mr Johnson's former advisor, Dominic Cummings, claimed on Twitter there were worse photos "floating around" which could still come to light.

'Sacrifices'

Labour MP Fabian Hamilton raised the picture with Mr Johnson during Prime Minister's Questions.

He said: "At the height of the lockdown restrictions in 2020, my constituent - who has worked for the NHS for over 30 years - was diagnosed with a tumour on her spine.

"Whilst in hospital, undergoing painful surgery, her family obeyed the rules and didn't visit her."

He asked the PM if as a result of the picture surfacing, and "for the sake of my constituent and the sacrifices she made", would he refer it to the police.

Mr Johnson said he was "very sorry" about Mr Hamilton's constituent and "the difficulties she has been through", but added: "What he has just said he is completely in error."

Prime Minister's Questions has proven politically dangerous for Boris Johnson in recent weeks, so no doubt he was hoping to get through the last session before a parliamentary break unscathed - perhaps even bolster a bit of backbench support.

At the start, he made his announcement about ending Covid regulations early - which was bound to go down well with some Tory MPs.

However, half way through the Q&A MPs started to stare at their phones as news of the latest photograph of a Downing Street event started to spread.

Two Labour MPs asked the prime minister about the picture, which shows him in front of a computer near a tinsel-wearing official and an open bottle of booze.

The event - which Number 10 says was a virtual quiz - was already known about and is not one of those being investigated by the police.

But this photograph just goes to show however much No 10 might want to move on, there's no escape from the ongoing saga that has proved so damaging.

Meanwhile, Downing Street is to get its first chief operating officer as part of the overhaul of the No 10 operation.

Samantha Jones, the PM's expert adviser on the NHS and social care, has been appointed as the new Downing Street permanent secretary on an interim basis.