London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Aug 10, 2025

No 10 staff warned not to confer in replies to Met police’s parties inquiry

No 10 staff warned not to confer in replies to Met police’s parties inquiry

A ‘separate offence’ could be committed if officials discuss answers to questionnaire, according to Cabinet Office
Downing Street staff have been told not to confer with each other when answering a Metropolitan police questionnaire about potentially Covid rule-breaking parties, with a warning this could constitute a “separate offence”.

Fresh guidance issued by the Cabinet Office on Tuesday to those who may be contacted by Scotland Yard about the dozen gatherings under investigation said they could still “seek legal advice” before responding.

The questionnaires began to be issued late last week – including to the prime minister, Boris Johnson – and officers will “continue to contact individuals this coming week”, the leaked document said.

Officials were told they could call a “legal information helpline at no cost to the individual”, which is an existing resource available to all civil servants. It gives them access to a 20-minute general consultation with a dedicated legal adviser on a range of issues, including the “impact of criminal activities”.

While the document said the Met had not told the Cabinet Office how long the investigation would take, it noted that inquiries were “progressing at pace”.

Those asked to fill in the questionnaire were told they should give an explanation for their alleged attendance at the event in question, allowing them a chance to provide “further circumstances you want the Met to take into account”.

It added: “You are entitled to seek legal advice before you respond to the questionnaire and you can discuss your response with your legal adviser.

“If you discuss your answers with anyone else who may have been involved this could amount to a separate offence.”

Scotland Yard has said all responses to the questionnaires issued must be submitted within seven days of receipt.

In the question and answer document prepared by a special liaison unit set up in the Cabinet Office, government workers were told to “make arrangements to ensure you can access your emails if you are on holiday” to ensure they met the deadline.

If uncomfortable about the Met contacting them via their work email address, officials were reassured they could give the Cabinet Office “an alternative email address” for any further contact.

The document confirmed a previous commitment that anyone who receives a fixed penalty notice “will not be publicly identified” by the Met.

It said Scotland Yard “will not make public the details of their investigation and therefore your line manager will not be notified”.

The document also warned that while fines for attendance at events that broke Covid laws started at £100, anyone found to “have organised or facilitated a large gathering” could face a charge of up to £10,000.

Despite the Met having been passed 300 photographs as part of its investigation – known as Operation Hillman – the memo said the Cabinet Office “would not expect the Met to publish photographs”.

The Cabinet Office also said it did not know if the Met would release a breakdown of how many fixed penalty notices would be handed out for each event.

Last week, Downing Street pledged to reveal if Johnson is fined by police for attending any parties while Covid restrictions were in force.

However the prime minister refused to rule out staying on even if he is found to have broken the law.

He told journalists: “We’re going to wait for the process to be completed.”

Once the Met’s investigation is over, the full findings of an investigation run by the senior civil servant Sue Gray are expected to be published.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Street justice isn’t pretty but how else do you deal with this kind of insanity? Sometimes someone needs to standup and say something
Armenia and Azerbaijan sign U.S.-brokered accord at White House outlining transit link via southern Armenia
Barcelona Resolves Captaincy Issue with Marc-André ter Stegen
US Justice Department Seeks Release of Epstein and Maxwell Grand Jury Exhibits Amid Legal and Victim Challenges
Trump Urges Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to Resign Over Alleged Chinese Business Ties
Scotland’s First Minister Meets Trump Amid Visit Highlighting Whisky Tariffs, Gaza Crisis and Heritage Links
Trump Administration Increases Reward for Arrest of Venezuelan President Maduro to Fifty Million Dollars
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
OpenAI Launches GPT‑5, Its Most Advanced AI Model Yet
Embarrassment in Britain: Homelessness Minister Evicted Tenants and Forced to Resign
President Trump nominated Stephen Miran, his top economic adviser and a critic of the Federal Reserve, to temporarily fill an open Fed seat
The AI-Powered Education Revolution: Market Potential and Transformative Impact
Chikungunya Virus Outbreak in Southern China: Over 7,000 Hospitalized
French wine makers have seen catastrophic damage to vines that were almost ready to be harvested after the worst fires in more than 70 years burned through the south of the country
US Lawmaker Probes Intel CEO’s China Ties Amid National Security Concerns
Brazilian President Lula says he’ll contact the leaders of BRICS states to propose a unified response to U.S. tariffs
Trump Open to Meeting Putin as Soon as Next Week, with Possible Trilateral Summit Including Zelenskiy
Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spark dating rumors, joining high stakes world of celeb-politician romances
US envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow to seek a breakthrough in the Ukraine war ahead of President Trump’s peace deadline
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Karol Nawrocki Inaugurated as Poland’s President, Setting Stage for Clash with Tusk Government
Trump Signals JD Vance as ‘Most Likely’ MAGA Successor for 2028
US Charges Two Chinese Nationals for Illegal Nvidia AI Chip Exports
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
U.S. Tariff Policy Triggers Market Volatility Amid Growing Global Trade Tensions
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
Representative Greene Urges H-1B Visa Cuts Amid U.S.-India Trade Tensions
U.S. House Committee Subpoenas Clintons and Senior Officials in Epstein Investigation
Sydney Sweeney Registered as Republican as Controversial American Eagle Ad Sparks Debate
Trump Accuses Major Banks of Politically Motivated Account Denials and Prepares Executive Order
TikTok Removes Huda Kattan Video Over Anti-Israel Conspiracy Claims
Trump Threatens Tariffs on India Over Russian Oil Imports
German Finance Minister Criticizes Trump’s Attacks on Institutions
U.S. Proposes Visa Bond of Up to $15,000 for Some Applicants
U.S. Farmers Increase Lobbying Amid Immigration Crackdown
Elon Musk Receives $23.7 Billion Tesla Stock Award
Texas House Paralyzed After Democrats Walk Out Over Redistricting
Mexican Cartels Complicate Sheinbaum’s U.S. Security Talks
Mark Zuckerberg Declares War on the iPhone
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
Tesla Seeks Shareholder Approval for $29 Billion Compensation Package for Elon Musk
Nvidia is cutting prices on its RTX 50-series graphics cards after sales slowed and inventories piled up
Ghislaine Maxwell Transferred to Minimum-Security Prison Amid Ongoing DOJ Discussions
U.S. Tariffs Surge to Highest Levels in Nearly a Century Under Second Trump Term
×