Boris Johnson has submitted his questionnaire to the Met
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Will Johnson be found guilty?
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Boris Johnson has submitted his questionnaire to the Met
After receiving the Met questionnaire a week ago, British PM Boris Johnson finally filled and returned it, saying that he did not believe he was breaking any rules, but apologized "for the things we simply didn't get right".
Johnson had until 22:00 GMT Friday to return the questionnaire, which looks into details about the lockdown parties which took place while Britain was donning strict COVID-19 mandates. The questionnaire was sent by email, and required an "account and explanation of the recipient's participation in an event," according to the Met.
Over 50 people are being probed into, including Johnson and his wife, Carrie.
The investigation, called Operation Hillman, looks into 12 gatherings on eight events, some of which Johnson admitted to attending, and it was launched just after the Sue Gray report was released to the police. The report included 500 documents and 300 images, and concluded "failures of leadership and judgement."
Upon discovery of any breach of law, Johnson and anyone else will be fined within weeks.
See this: A timeline of scandals: Boris Johnson partying
Conservative members of the parliament, even loyalists, demanded that the PM be removed from his position if investigations reveal he committed a criminal offense. Nevertheless, Johnson is in denial that he has broken any law.
In parallel with such demands, what might be a boon for Johnson's case, coming in his favor, would be the coming replacement of the Metropolitan police commissioner who has been looking into Operation Hillman.
The Metropolitan police commissioner, Cressida Dick, filed her resignation and will be stepping down after a series of controversies that have damaged her (and the Met's) reputation. The decision came especially after London's mayor, Sadiq Khan, said that he had no confidence in her leadership.
Given that the Metropolitan police is investigating into Boris Johnson's partygate scandal, the British prime minister is facing pressure to stay away from any involvement in choosing the new head of the police department.
Parties opposing Johnson's administration said that the idea that Johnson may influence this decision would be a serious breach of ethical standards, since the chief that will come after Cressida Dick will be in charge of the investigation, which may come down to a biased conclusion if the chief were to be appointed by none other than the PM.
