Police are urged to probe lockdown-busting Tory HQ Christmas party

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The Metropolitan Police have been urged to investigate a lockdown-busting Christmas party attended by ex-London mayoral hopeful Shaun Bailey that took place in the basement of Conservative Party HQ.

Mr Bailey yesterday quit as chairman of the London Assembly’s police and crime committee after the Mirror published a photo which showed him posing with dozens of Tory aides at the party on December 14, when London was in Tier 2 restrictions.

Labour, Lib Dem and Green Party politicians on the London Assembly have written to Met Police commissioner Cressida Dick to demand an investigation.

The Metropolitan Police have been urged to investigate a lockdown-busting Christmas party attended by ex-London mayoral hopeful Shaun Bailey that took place in the basement of Conservative Party HQ.

Mr Bailey yesterday quit as chairman of the London Assembly’s police and crime committee after the Mirror published a photo which showed him posing with dozens of Tory aides at the party on December 14, when London was in Tier 2 restrictions.

Labour, Lib Dem and Green Party politicians on the London Assembly have written to Met Police commissioner Cressida Dick to demand an investigation.

‘These latest images and reports regarding the alleged party at Conservative HQ seem to indicate a clear breach of the regulations,’ they wrote.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps yesterday told Sky News it was ‘absolutely right’ that Mr Bailey had resigned his role, and it was ‘wrong to have held a party’. Downing Street added that Prime Minister Boris Johnson shared the view that the party was ‘unacceptable.’

Speaking to MailOnline’s Dan Wootton on GB News last night, Mr Bailey apologised for attending the party and called it ‘an error of judgement’.

But he then insisted the group was ‘in a workplace bubble’ and that he was only there to collect paperwork before going for an interview with BBC Newsnight. He claimed he was only there to pose for the photo, but said he regretted not telling his colleagues that they were ‘going too far’.

Eight days after the party, Mr Bailey went on Twitter to urge people to follow the rules, saying the restrictions were ‘tough on every Londoner’.

Source: The Daily Mail

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