The Metropolitan Police has announced 20 fines will be issued for breaches of Covid-19 regulations in Whitehall and Downing Street as part of its ongoing investigation into the "partygate" scandal.

       Scotland Yard said it is referring the fixed penalty notices to the ACRO Criminal Records Office which will then be responsible for issuing them to the relevant individuals.

       The Met said these are the "first referrals" and there is still a "significant amount of investigative material that remains to be assessed" which means "further referrals may be made to ACRO if the evidential threshold is made".

       Scotland Yard has stressed it will not be revealing the identity of any of the people issued with fines.

       Downing Street has previously said it will confirm if Boris Johnson is issued with a fine, but Number 10 is not expected to confirm the identities of more junior members of staff who are hit with an FPN.

       The announcement represents the first confirmation from the Met that the law was breached at the heart of government during the Covid crisis.

       ？？Follow the latest updates below.

       Angela Rayner, the deputy Labour leader, has responded to the Metropolitan Police announcement.

       She said in a statement: "After over two months of police time, twelve parties investigated and over a hundred people questioned under caution, Boris Johnson’s Downing Street has been found guilty of breaking the law.

       "The culture is set from the very top. The buck stops with the Prime Minister, who spent months lying to the British public, which is why he has got to go.

       "It is disgraceful that while the rest of the country followed their rules, Boris Johnson's government acted like they did not apply to them. This has been a slap in the face of the millions of people who made huge sacrifices."

       Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: "If Boris Johnson thinks he can get away with partygate by paying expensive lawyers and throwing junior staff to the wolves, he is wrong.

       "We all know who is responsible. The Prime Minister must resign, or Conservative MPs must sack him."

       Below is the full statement which has been issued by the Metropolitan Police:

       Scotland Yard has announced it is issuing 20 fines for breaches of coronavirus rules in Whitehall as part of its ongoing investigation into the "partygate" scandal.

       The Metropolitan Police said it is making its "first referrals for fixed penalty notices" to the ACRO Criminal Records Office.

       The ACRO Criminal Records Office will then be responsible for issuing the fines to individuals.

       The Met has made clear it will not be identifying any of the people who are handed fines.

       Angela Rayner, the deputy Labour leader, has told Sky News that Boris Johnson should resign if he is fined over the "partygate" scandal.

       Speaking to Sky News, Ms Rayner said: “Yes. They were his rules. There you go. A straight answer.

       “In all seriousness, they were the rules that the Prime Minister made, everyone followed, people couldn’t see their loved ones when they were dying.

       “If the Prime Minister is fined because he has broken his own rules then I think his position is untenable.”

       Ms Rayner also said Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, should resign if he is fined.

       She said: "Well, I would say so, yeah. Anyone that is in the Government that decides to break their own rules… there is plenty of other MPs out there that are willing to do the job and do it in the public interest.”

       Will Quince, the minister for children and families, has told Will Smith that "violence is never, ever the answer" after the US actor apologised for slapping comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars.

       Asked on Sky News for his opinion on the incident, Mr Quince said: "It is so disappointing because I am a huge fan of Will Smith and I think violence is never, ever the answer, and I say this as an education minister because that's part of our RHSE curriculum.

       "We know people can lose their tempers, we know people can say hurtful things, but violence is never, ever the answer and it is just so unfortunate to see such a high profile figure react in that way.

       "Having said that, I do welcome the fact that he apologised almost immediately yesterday and he apologised again to Chris Rock, that was the right thing to do, but I hope he reflects on his behaviour because he is a big role model and violence is never, ever the answer."

       Will Quince, the minister for children and families, has said the full Sue Gray report will be published after Scotland Yard has completed its "partygate" investigation.

       Ms Gray, a senior civil servant in the Cabinet Office, published a 12-page "update" at the end of January on her probe into alleged lockdown-busting gatherings in Whitehall.

       The full findings were held back to avoid cutting across the investigation launched by the Metropolitan Police.

       Mr Quince told Sky News: “My understanding is the Prime Minister has been clear that as soon as the Metropolitan Police have concluded their investigation then Sue Gray’s report… will be published and I think the Prime Minister also said he will make a full statement to the House [of Commons] as well.

       “I think one thing to say, looking at the moment over in Ukraine and even worse over in Russia, I think it is a brilliant thing that we have a free press in this country that is able to ask these kind of questions.

       “These are the questions that couldn’t be asked in Putin’s regime in Russia. I think it is a great thing.”

       Will Quince, the minister for children and families, is on the broadcast round for the Government this morning.

       He was asked twice during an interview on Sky News if he believes Boris Johnson should resign if the Prime Minister is fined over "partygate".

       Mr Quince dodged the question the first time, telling presenter Kay Burley: "I entirely understand why you ask that question, I understand the huge public interest, I completely understand the considerable upset caused, the events that took place shouldn’t have happened.

       “But I hope you’ll understand that both as an education minister but more importantly that there is an ongoing live Metropolitan Police investigation, it is just not appropriate that I comment.”

       Asked again if the PM should resign if he is fined, Mr Quince said: "Look, that is a hypothetical question, Kay, and you wouldn’t expect me to answer that, I know you would like me to, but you wouldn’t."

       Good morning and welcome to today's politics live blog.

       The "partygate" scandal is back in the headlines, with the Metropolitan Police expected to issue a first wave of fines imminently.

       I will take you through the key developments.

       Need help?

       Visit our adblocking instructions page.