Met commissioner suggests action will be taken over Tory HQ video

Tories may soon be facing further Partygate fines after a video emerged of a Christmas party during the pandemic, the Metropolitan Police commissioner has suggested.

Footage obtained by the Daily Mirror shows staffers dancing and drinking at the Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) in December 2020 while Covid-19 restrictions were in place.

Now Sir Mark Rowley has suggested the force will take action against the some 24 people who reportedly took part.

One reveller can be heard saying it is okay to film ‘as long as we don’t stream that we’re, like, bending the rules’.

Sir Mark told The News Agents Podcast the 45-second clip from the event told a clearer story than the photograph that was previously referred to investigators.

‘As people know, that case has been previously looked at based on a photo,’ he said.

‘It’s very obvious a video tells a much richer, clearer story than a photo.

‘And so, the team are looking at that with a view to whether that provides a basis for further investigation.’

Sir Mark implied that action is likely to be taken over the footage.

He added: ‘I think we can all see the colourful nature of the video and how much it tells a story way beyond the original photo.

‘I need to let a team work through that but I think we can all guess which way it will go.’

The Met considers various factors when deciding whether to investigate alleged breaches of Covid rules retrospectively.

‘One of the things we’ve taken account of in the past, of course, has been those involved in sort of setting the law and setting the policy being an aggravating feature, for example,’ Sir Mark added.

The Christmas event took place when indoor socialising was banned and people across the country were separated from family and friends.

Sir Mark said: ‘We are not routinely opening every minor historic allegation. So, if you phoned up about your neighbour from three years ago, we are not going to reopen that. B

‘But clearly cases that are particularly serious, particularly concerning, we will do.

‘As people know, that case has been previously looked at based on a photo. It’s very obvious a video tells a much richer, clearer story than a photo.’

This comes after Downing Street suggested Boris Johnson’s resignation honours could be reviewed by a special committee if nominees are deemed to have brought the honours system ‘into disrepute’.

The event was attended by former London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey and Tory aide Ben Mallet, who were put forward for a peerage and an OBE respectively by the former PM.

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