The met is set to issue 20 fines to people who attended the lockdown breaking parties at downing street and Whitehall.

Police detectives have been investigating several parties that took place during the pandemic, including as many as six events that Boris Johnson is believed to have attended.In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said:

"We will today initially begin to refer 20 fixed penalty notices to be issued for breaches of Covid-19 regulations. The investigation into allegations of breaches of COVID-19 regulations in Whitehall and Downing Street has now progressed to the point where the first referrals for fixed penalty notices (FPN) will be made to ACRO Criminal Records Office. We are making every effort to progress this investigation at speed and have completed a number of assessments. However due to the significant amount of investigative material that remains to be assessed, further referrals may be made to ACRO if the evidential threshold is made."

However, the PM is not yet expected to be included in the first wave of fines due to complications surrounding Downing Street being both his home and place of work.While Police will not name those who receive fixed-penalty notices, Downing Street has committed to disclosing if Mr Johnson is personally fined.The announcement comes months after the Mirror first broke the story of lockdown-flouting Christmas parties that were held while the rest of the country lived under strict Covid rules.[caption id="attachment_24635" align="aligncenter" width="636"]

Pm Boris Johnson will not be included in this round of Partygate fines as his case is politically explosive and complicated by the fact that Downing Street is his home as well as his workplace.[/caption]It has been made explicit within the announcement that Covid rules were broken during Party-Gate despite PM Boris Johnson repeatedly denying the incidents.More than 100 police questionnaires have been sent to people who are believed to have attended lockdown gatherings, including Mr Johnson (who took private legal advice on how to respond) and Chancellor Rishi Sunak.These have included the now infamous "bring your own booze" bash in the Downing Street garden in May 2020 - a surprise get-together for Mr Johnson's birthday in June 2020 - and a party in the PM's No. 11 flat in November 2020.Mr Johnson previously admitted he was at the BYOB event for 25 minutes, although he tried to claim to MPs that this was a work event.Downing Street said staff "gathered briefly" in the Cabinet Room to mark the Prime Minister's 56th birthday. Scotland Yard initially resisted investigating multiple allegations of rule-breaking before U-turning in January following public outcry.