Johnson said the government was “dead wrong” after it emerged that he had been reported to two forces over the events at both Checkers and Downing Street.
Both the Metropolitan Police and the Thames Valley Police are assessing the information, which is understood to come from official sources. diary tickets that were being reviewed prior to the Covid public inquiry.
Johnson strongly denied the allegations and insisted that all the events in question were legal, with allies suggesting the move was politically motivated.
According to The Times, which first reported the story, his ministerial journal revealed visits by friends to Checkers, the prime minister’s Buckinghamshire residence of grace, during the pandemic.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson referred to police over new lockdown violation allegations
Other potential breaches within Downing Street were also reported to the Met.
Senior Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, a Johnson loyalist, told GB News he had visited Checkers with his family during the pandemic, but that the gathering was “totally within the rules.”
He said: “I can tell you that during that period I went to Checkers, I was invited there with my children, completely according to the rules. Another senior government minister was coming, but the prime minister canceled it because he was only allowed to have one family present at the time.”
The Daily Mail quoted a friend of the former prime minister as saying he was “seriously considering” taking legal action against the government over the references, of which a spokesman said he had not been notified.
The fallout has increased the pressure on Rishi Sunak, who was fined for a Downing Street meeting during the pandemic along with his former boss in June 2020.
Jacob Rees Mogg
Sunak faces questions from the prime minister later on Wednesday, in which the issue of Johnson’s past conduct is likely to be raised, along with the pending question of whether he will launch an investigation into his handling of an excess fine. speed by the Minister of the Interior, Suella Braverman.
Labor deputy leader Angela Rayner said the revelations showed the Conservatives were too “obsessed with their own failure” to govern.
The Liberal Democrats demanded that Mr Sunak’s government end the taxpayer-funded legal defense provided to Boris Johnson over the Partygate investigation.
The government hopes to pay some £222,000 in legal fees to help Johnson defend himself in the privileges committee’s inquiry into whether he lied to MPs about breaking lockdown rules in Downing Street.
Lindsay Jackson, a spokesperson for the Covid-19 group Bereaved Families for Justice, called Johnson “totally unfit for any form of public service” following the revelations and suggested he “quietly step back from public life.”
READ MORE: BBC president resigns over Boris Johnson loan
A statement from Boris Johnson’s office said his lawyers wrote to police to “explain in detail why the Cabinet Office is completely wrong in its assertions.”
It read: “No contact was made with Mr. Johnson prior to these incorrect allegations being made to both the police and the Committee on Privileges. This is strange and unacceptable.
“Whatever the political purpose, it is clear that a last-ditch attempt is being made to drag out the Committee on Privileges investigation as it came to a conclusion and undermine Mr. Johnson.”
The Cabinet Office said: “The information came to light during the process of preparing evidence for submission to the Covid investigation.
“It was identified as part of the normal disclosure review of potentially relevant documents conducted by the legal team for witnesses in the investigation.
“In accordance with the obligations of the Civil Service Code, this material has been handed over to the relevant authorities and it is now their business.”