Police investigating the Downing Street parties have received more than 300 photographs and 500 pieces of paper, it has been reported.
Metropolitan Police Commander Catherine Roper said that the material received is being ‘prioritised and fast tracked’, and the people under investigation will be contacted in a ‘matter of weeks’.
Speaking to ITV, Ms Roper said that material had been received on Friday and that the Met are considering what has been provided, what further investigations need to take place and who needs to be contacted regarding them
She said: “We had a bundle of material provided to us, just Friday which is well over 500 pieces of paper, about a ream and a half, and over 300 photographs.
“My offices are prioritising this week to consider what's been provided in that bundle of material, what further investigations that they need to do, and of course who they are going to be contacting.
“We are fast tracking the assessment of the material we were provided with on Friday, it's quite a lot of material, and we will seek to contact those people that we wish to get further information from as soon as we possibly can.”
When pressed on how long it may take to contact those who could provide further information, Ms Roper added: “We’re still going through the material and we haven’t identified the number of people we want to contact, that said, we are looking at fast tracking it and we intend to contact them in a number of weeks.”
The Metropolitan Police areinvestigating at least 12 events across government for Covid breaches including the Prime Minister’s birthday celebration and a gathering in his Downing Street flat.
The Prime Minister apologised on Monday and insisted “I get it and I will fix it” as he faced fresh calls to resign after Sue Gray’s limited inquiry criticised “failures of leadership and judgment”.
Sue Gray’s report criticised “failures of leadership and judgment” in No 10 and the Cabinet Office while England was under coronavirus restrictions in 2020 and 2021.
At the Commons today, Boris Johnson refused to say whether he was at a party in his No 11 flat on November 13 2020.
Officers were investigating that event in the official residence shared with wife Carrie Johnson, on the night former aides Dominic Cummings and Lee Cain left their roles.
Police were also investigating the June 19 2020 event in the Cabinet Room at No 10 to mark the Prime Minister’s 56th birthday where Mr Johnson was “ambushed by cake”, in the words of minister Conor Burns, although he later insisted there was no cake.
Mrs Johnson reportedly organised the surprise get-together complete with a chorus of “happy birthday” and interior designer Lulu Lytle also admitted attending while carrying out the lavish and controversial work to their Downing Street flat.
The May 20 2020 “bring your own booze” event in the No 10 garden which Mr Johnson attended for 25 minutes, apparently believing it was a work event, is also under investigation.
Ms Gray’s limited report listed 16 events she examined as part of her inquiry, but she said only four of those were not now being investigated by the police.
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