London police probe lockdown parties at British PM’s residence

London’s Metropolitan Police Service has opened an investigation into possible COVID-19 lockdown breaches at British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Downing Street residence after receiving evidence from an internal government probe into a series of gatherings.

After initially refusing to probe the alleged violations, the UK’s top police officer Cressida Dick told the London Assembly, the capital’s local government council, on Tuesday that her office would launch an inquiry into “a number of events” at Downing Street and Whitehall.

Johnson promised to cooperate with police in any formal probe.

“I welcome the Met’s decision to conduct its own investigation because I believe this will give the public the clarity it needs and help draw a line under the matter,” he told parliament on Tuesday.

The prime minister is facing calls to resign amid revelations that he and his staff attended a series of parties during the spring and winter of 2020 when most social gatherings were banned throughout England, forcing average citizens to miss weddings, funerals and birthdays as friends and relatives died alone in hospitals.