Even the Met Police are waiting for Sue Gray to decide if there were parties – 14 arresting reactions

If you thought email evidence and the Prime Minister standing up in the House of Commons and confirming a large lockdown gathering in the Downing Street garden would be enough for the Met to open an investigation, think again.

Statement from the Met re: alleged breaches of the Health Protection Regulations at Downing Street and Department for Education. pic.twitter.com/ejDKawVCK6

— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) January 13, 2022

We look forward to hearing how the many Met officers who will have been on duty at Downing Street during the party/parties engaged with those present and encouraged them to adhere to the restrictions.

Perhaps it went like this –

Police officer: Sir, are you aware that the law forbids gatherings of greater than two people?
Boris Johnson: I’m the Prime Minister.
Police Officer: I apologise for disturbing your game of Spin the Bottle.

Tweeters weren’t impressed, as these responses show.

1.

Why are the met police treating Sue Gray like some sort of Jessica Fletcher character who can do their investigations for them https://t.co/EWSJrEwbMl

— Nooruddean (@BeardedGenius) January 13, 2022

2.

The Met frames this as something reported long after it happened and so not normally investigated. It does not say why police officers in Downing St did not act to shut the party at the time, they way they did against ordinary people – sometimes in rather heavy handed ways. https://t.co/7yKEZOdxCA

— Krishnan Guru-Murthy (@krishgm) January 13, 2022

3.

Imagine any other situation…

Where someone breaks the law

Even admits to it

But gets to swerve the police because they’ve asked an employee to do an investigation instead

Utter farce

— Marina Purkiss (@MarinaPurkiss) January 13, 2022

4.

I'm struggling to think of what evidence Sue Gray might uncover to prompt the Met to act that is stronger than an email from a senior official saying "Please BYOB".

— Alan White (@aljwhite) January 13, 2022

5.

The many thousands of people fined for breaching Covid rules may wish they could only have asked a close colleague to investigate them before needing to involve the police.

— Paul Brand (@PaulBrandITV) January 13, 2022

6.

Prime Minister or "World King"? https://t.co/iyT5gli0VO

— Rachel Wearmouth (@REWearmouth) January 13, 2022

7.

The Met, a summary:

OF INTEREST NOT OF INTEREST pic.twitter.com/OxKEd31gt4

— David Schneider (@davidschneider) January 13, 2022

8.

BREAKING: The Met say they can't investigate the Downing Street parties unless evidence emerges they were holding a candle lit vigil

— Laura Kuenssberg Translator (@BBCLauraKT) January 13, 2022

9.

if only there had been multiple police officers on the day both in and around 10 downing street

— Chris Boyd 🇬🇧🇵🇭 (@paperghost) January 13, 2022

10.

to be fair to the Met the only evidence for #partygate at no 10 is an emailed invitation, photographs, videos, eye witness accounts and a confession so not much to go on

— dave ❄️ 🥕 🧻 (@davemacladd) January 13, 2022

11.

It's Sue Gray's world, we just live in it https://t.co/2I721xqKHg

— Graeme Demianyk (@GraemeDemianyk) January 13, 2022

12.

The Met Police new slogan "can't someone else do it?"

— BH Apollo the Cat owner (@GreenBagOG) January 13, 2022

13.

My advice to any alleged criminals is to promise to conduct your own investigation & share your findings with the Met Police
It’s how we do things now apparently https://t.co/2mw14rw86l

— nazir afzal (@nazirafzal) January 13, 2022

14.

apparently you can hold off the cops by saying you've asked a woman called susan who works for you to look into it https://t.co/VJbcvMg8NY

— joe (@mutablejoe) January 13, 2022

We’ll leave the last word to Adam Bienkov.

Short of footage emerging of Johnson leading a hundred-strong conga down Whitehall, it's getting difficult to think of what actually would convince the Met Police that there was "significant evidence" of Covid laws being broken.

— Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) January 13, 2022

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Source Met Police Image Screengrab