UK Police Rule Out Downing Street Party Probe

London, Dec 9 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 9th Dec, 2021 ) :UK police said Wednesday they would not investigate allegations of illegal Christmas parties at Downing Street last year during coronavirus lockdown measures due to lack of evidence.

Footage of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's aides making jokes about a Christmas party has aired on national television, following newspaper reports that staff inside his Number 10 Downing Street office held parties there in November and December last year.

The allegations have prompted public fury and damaged Johnson's government, just as the fast spread of the Omicron variant has pushed him to announce stringent new virus restrictions.

London's Metropolitan Police, known as the Met, said in a statement that the force had received "a significant amount of correspondence" on the reported parties and detectives had examined the video footage.

But they said the material "does not provide evidence of a breach of the health protection regulations" and only "restates allegations made in the media".

"Based on the absence of evidence and in line with our policy not to investigate retrospective breaches of such regulations, the Met will not commence an investigation at this time."Johnson said earlier Wednesday that he had ordered the country's most senior civil servant, Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, to lead an investigation into the allegations.

The Met said that this probe would pass on any evidence of wrongdoing to the police.