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Police to investigate No 10 lockdown parties Police to investigate No 10 lockdown parties
(32 minutes later)
The Metropolitan Police have launched an investigation into parties held in Downing Street during the coronavirus pandemic. This video can not be played
Commissioner Cressida Dick said the force was looking into "potential breaches of Covid-19 regulations" in No 10 and across Whitehall over the past two years. To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
She said the Met would "police without fear or favour" and provide updates "at significant points" in the investigation. Watch Dame Cressida Dick announce the Met Police's investigation into No 10 lockdown parties
The news comes after fresh allegations came to light over an event held for the PM's birthday held in the Cabinet Room on 19 June 2020. The Metropolitan Police have launched an investigation into parties held in No 10 during the coronavirus pandemic.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version. Commissioner Cressida Dick said they were looking into "potential breaches of Covid-19 regulations" in Downing Street and Whitehall since 2020.
You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on Twitter to get the latest alerts. She said the investigation was launched as a "result of the information provided by the Cabinet Office inquiry team", led by civil servant Sue Gray.
The Cabinet Office said Ms Gray's own inquiry would continue.
But it is not yet clear if the police investigation will lead to delays in its publication.
The news comes after fresh allegations of a birthday party being held for the PM in June 2020.
Downing Street has admitted that staff gathered inside No 10 to celebrate Boris Johnson's birthday when the first Covid lockdown was still in place.
But ministers have disputed the number of people attending, and called for "patience" while Ms Gray's inquiry is carried out to establish the facts.
The first thing is to have a sense of proportion.
When you hear the words "Met Police, investigation, criminal, Downing Street" that sounds incredibly dramatic.
This is a big development in this story but we are talking about the potential issuing of fixed penalty notices - fines - we are not talking about big criminal trials or people going to prison.
So it is important to keep that sense of perspective.
There are also lots of things we don't know about this police investigation.
We don't know how many of those high-profile parties are now being investigated and crucially we don't know if they were parties attended by the prime minister.
We don't know if the prime minister is in the frame for being interviewed by the police.
So, lots of unanswered questions but it means this is going to rumble on at a much higher volume for a lot longer.