Boris Johnson has completed and returned the questionnaire he was sent by Scotland Yard, in which he was expected to defend his attendance at alleged parties under investigation. The prime minister was asked by police to fill in the form on Friday 11 February, as part of the “Operation Hillman” investigation into social gatherings in breach of Covid rules between 20 May 2020 and 16 April 2021. No 10 confirmed the prime minister has complied with a Metropolitan police request for his answers to be submitted within a week of receiving the form last Friday. Downing Street has previously said his responses will not be made public. Officers involved with Operation Hillman, which is examining whether Covid restrictions were broken in Downing Street and across Whitehall, sent formal questionnaires to about 50 people as they look into the details of alleged Covid rule-breaking. It comes as a union representing civil servants said it had pushed for officials involved in the investigation to be able to consult notes on the evidence they gave to the Sue Gray inquiry to help inform their Met Q&A. Gray carried out an inquiry into claims of lockdown breaches at the top of government but has only published an interim report while she waits for the police investigation to be completed. Out of 16 events Gray reviewed, police are investigating 12 of them, including as many as six that the prime minister is reported to have attended. Dave Penman, the general secretary of the Association of First Division Civil Servants (FDA), said the decision to allow the notes to be viewed followed an effort by the union, which represents senior and middle management public servants. “To be clear, this has been agreed after a request from us, the FDA, their trade union,” he tweeted. “They will only be able to see what they said in their own interview, to assist them in completing the questionnaires from the Metropolitan police, who have raised no objection to this.” It is understood the Met had no objection.
Gray said it was not “standard practice in internal investigations such as this” to share notes with interviewees, but said in a letter seen by the Guardian that she had decided “as an exceptional measure” that they would get “limited access”.