The Good Law Project has said it will pursue legal action after fresh pictures of a lockdown-busting party in Downing Street were leaked.
ITV News published four images on Monday showing the prime minister with a drink in his hand while standing behind a table littered with wine bottles and food.
The pictures were taken at a leaving party for then-director of communications Lee Cain on November 13th 2020, eight days after Johnson imposed England’s second national coronavirus lockdown.
Met Police action… or lack thereof
The prime minister was not fined by the Metropolitan Police over the event seen in the images, which show at least nine people in close proximity along with six bottles of wine, and they have now closed their investigation into lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street and Whitehall.
But according to Jo Maugham, director of the Good Law Project, the leak could give scope for a new attempt to hold Scotland Yard accountable for allegedly failing to properly investigate Partygate.
Good Law Project
Retweeting the pictures, Maugham said: “We have now had advice from our QC and junior.
“We will be sending a further judicial review pre-action protocol letter to the Met in relation to the apparent failures in its investigation into the Prime Minister later this week.”
A pre-action protocol letter is a letter written to the Home Office in a bid to resolve a dispute through mediation before going to court. If mediation is not possible, court proceedings can take place.
Maugham’s action opens the door for a judicial review of the reasons the Metropolitan Police were slow to investigate law-breaking in the corridors of power during the lockdown.
The Good Law Project previously launched legal proceedings against the force prior to police beginning to investigate potential rule-breaking.
Maugham added that the group would “publish that letter when we send it”.
Related: Watch: The moment the PM denied there was a party on Nov 13th in parliament