The Metropolitan Police has announced the end of its Partygate investigation, having issued top officials in Downing Street and Whitehall with 126 fixed penalty notice fines for breaching their own lockdown rules.
The end of the investigation now clears the way for the release of the long-awaited Sue Gray report, following a 5-month delay.
Sue Gray's report is anticipated to be incredibly damning, in particular of the PM and his team.
It is also expected to criticise the wider culture allowed to prevail in Downing Street whilst the rest of the country was living in isolation, reports The Manc.
A briefing at Downing Street this morning has confirmed that the Prime Minister has now been told he will not receive any more fines over Partygate.
There is now a question as to whether Tory MPs who were previously holding back on calling for his resignation will now be moved to act following the release of Sue Gray’s long-awaited report.
Boris Johnson has already made history as the first-ever PM to have beenfined or prosecuted for breaking the law during their time in office. It has not been clear, however, how many fines in total the PM has received – despite previous promises of transparency from No.10.
At the moment, the only fine that is confirmed for the PM is for his birthday in June – however, he is also thought to have attended six out of the 12 events for which other fines have been recommended or issued.
Barrister and specialist in lockdown rules Adam Wagne, however, says the PM attended at least five of the events being investigated.
The Met has made recommendations for a total of 126 fines, but it is being reported that these will take a short time to filter through.
The reason for the lack of clarity is that the events happened over eight dates, and the Met has only clarified which dates it has issued fines for as opposed to events, reports The Mirror.
The Met has said a team of 12 detectives “worked through 345 documents, including emails, door logs, diary entries and witness statements, 510 photographs and CCTV images and 204 questionnaires as part of a careful and thorough enquiry.”
Throughout the investigation, officials were issued questionnaires to fill out. No one, however, was interviewed under caution by the police.
All fines given out were for breaching restrictions on gatherings, with the exception of the 20 May 2020 garden party. This was said to have breached restrictions on “leaving, or being outside of, the place where you were living without reasonable excuse”.
Acting Deputy Commissioner Helen Ball, of the Met said: “There is no doubt that the pandemic impacted all of us in so many ways and strong feelings and opinions have been expressed on this particular issue.
“When Covid regulations were introduced, the Met was clear that whilst we would not routinely investigate breaches of regulations retrospectively, there may be occasions when it would be appropriate to do so.
The information that we received with regard to the alleged breaches in Downing Street and Whitehall was sufficient to reach our criteria to begin such an investigation.
“Our investigation was thorough and impartial and was completed as quickly as we could, given the amount of information that needed to be reviewed and the importance of ensuring that we had strong evidence for each FPN referral.”
Feature image – Commons Wikimedia
UK News
Leeds Festival announces second wave of artists including Skepta b2b set
One of West Yorkshire's biggest live music events , Leeds Festival, has announced its second wave of artists including a Skepta DJ set.
Back in December, Leeds Festival announced some impressive acts would be headlining like Fontaines D.C., Florence and the Machine, Charli xcx, Raye, Dave, and Chase & Status.
Leeds Festival 2026 also marks the first time this live music extended-weekender will have a Thursday night headliner courtesy of rock band Kasabian.
Alongside the stellar headliners, this year's line-up also sees Skepta, Sombr, Skye Newman, Role Model, Kneecap and more major acts performing next August.
Leeds Festival 2026 announces second wave of artists with over 60 new names / Credit: The Hoot Leeds
Now, Leeds Festival has dropped its second wave of artists with over 60 names that are just as hard-hitting and extraordinary as the previously mentioned music moguls.
Headliner RAYE is making her Leeds Festival headline slot a family affair by bringing along her amazing sisters along for the ride too as Amma and Absolutely are now playing sets.
Violet Grohl, the eldest daughter of Foo Fighters' frontman Dave Grohl, is making her first ever festival appearance and bringing her alternative-indie sound to Leeds.
Skepta announced for a b2b set and Violet Grohl makes festival performance debut / Credit: @henrygoodfell0w / Press Shot via supplied
Get ready for Cruz Beckham and The Breakers to step out for a set like no other too, as they prepare a performance all 'for your love' and attention.
There's even a brand-new stage titled The Warehouse which will act as the home for all things dance music, with exclusive b2b sets, DJ performances and a club-like experience.
The acts taking to this stage include Skepta b2b with East End Dubs, Omar +, Bou, Hedex, Rossi, Mall Grab and lots more.
More artists ready to wow the Bramham Park crowd include Arthur Hill, The Lathums, Duke Dumont, Slayyyter, The K's, Paris Paloma, Holly Humberstone and more.
Leeds Festival is taking place from 27 August to 30 August at Bramham Park and to find a full line-up HERE.
If you're after getting your hands on tickets for one of West Yorkshire's biggest festivals when it returns this August, you can do so HERE.
Featured Images - Press shots via Georgina Hurdsfield (Supplied)
UK News
TV presenter’s rant pointing out double-standard over Sheffield Wednesday punishment goes viral
Danny Jones
A TV presenter and Sheffield Wednesday supporter's speech about the perceived double standard concerning another pending points deduction at her club compared to the punishment of Premier League clubs is trending online.
Many believe she's pretty bang on the money, to be fair.
Wednesdayite Sophy Ridge, who hosts a regular Sky News show with fellow presenter Wilfred Frost, recently took the opportunity to indulge in some understandable fan frustration during a show this week.
Admittedly, getting on her soapbox a bit - and for good reason - the Richmond-born Owls fan simply shed light on the contradictory nature of Sheffield Wednesday's penalty set for the next season over financial violations when compared to top-flight offenders.
Went on a bit of a rant on telly comparing how Chelsea & Sheffield Wednesday have been dealt with#swfc
Citing both Manchester City (with their estimated 115-130 charges still no closer to being resolved) and now Chelsea as being the most recently accused of breaking regulations, she argued that there's a significant difference between penalties teams are being slapped with - or in some cases, still avoiding.
For instance, while the Man City saga first broke back in February 2023 and relates to alleged breaches dating all the way back to 2009, they are yet to be confirmed as guilty, at least not in any public announcement.
As for the West London club, Chelsea have only just been hit with a fine, albeit a Premier League record sum of approximately £10.75 million, as well as a 12-month transfer ban, though it has already been suspended for two years.
This is due to them having made undisclosed payments to agents, players and various other individuals during the Roman Abramovich ownership era.
Meanwhile, for anyone who hasn't been following the huge furore among the long-suffering Sheffield fanbase, Wednesday fans, players, and footballing staff are the ones being penalised for what many believe is nothing more than 'improper' and 'irresponsible' management of the club at an executive level.
For context, they are currently set to start the next 2026/27 campaign in the EFL's third tier with a 15-point handicap, which could very well spell yet another disaster year, with Ridge adding: "How attractive is that [a club sale] going to be for an owner that might be looking at back-to-back relegations?"
Sadly, it seems that its matchgoers and other die-hards are the ones set to pay the price this time, as they often have been; according to the sports journalist, that's often the case further down the pyramid.
For instance, Todd Boehly's Chelsea organisation seem to have been let off the hook regarding any setback in the standings due to their cooperation with the profit and sustainability (PSR) investigation, and because their offence pre-dates the modern PSR guidelines era.
In fact, Chelsea were actually said to have voluntarilyreported themselves regarding historic offences within youth football, which also seems to have afforded them some leniency.
Put simply, she believes it's unfair for the soon-to-be League One side to face such harsh terms and a fee just a few million shy of the figure they've been told they 'must' pay outgoing owners, Dejphon Chansiri, while Chelsea face "no sanctions despite the fact this [illegal spending] clearly would have given them a sporting advantage" in the past.
What do you make of the whole saga, and do you think there's a difference in how so-called 'bigger' clubs are treated compared to those in lower divisions?
Georgina Pellant -
19th May 2022 
