Ex-PM Not Victim Of Stitch-Up, Says No 10 Over Fresh Partygate Claims

About a dozen previously undisclosed gatherings at Chequers and Downing Street allegedly held during the Covid pandemic have been referred to the police by civil servants, the Guardian has been told.

- Aubrey Allegretti

Further details of the new Partygate accusations emerged as Boris Johnson's allies launched a furious fightback, forcing Downing Street to deny he was the victim of a politically motivated stitch up.

Government sources said about 12 potentially illegal events formed the basis of a dossier handed over to two police forces last week. While it was initially thought they were held at the prime minister's graceand-favour mansion, Chequers, in Buckinghamshire, insiders say they also took place in No 10.

They were said to include events that did not form part of the Met police investigation last year, or the Whitehall inquiry led by the thensenior civil servant Sue Gray.

After Johnson's allies made clear their fury, No 10 stressed Rishi Sunak had no involvement in the decision to hand over the former prime minister's pandemic diaries.

"We have not seen the information or material in question," said Sunak's official spokesperson yesterday, adding that ministers had "no involvement in this process and were only made aware after the police had been contacted".