Tories escape lockdown rule breach after Covid gathering sparking f…

London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey and Tory staffers avoided Covid fines after claims of a lockdown gathering at the party’s HQ. There was outrage last year when an image emerged of Mr Bailey and about two dozen gathered together with drinks and a buffet during lockdown.Those in attendance posed for a picture with a table covered with food clearly on show.However, police decided against issuing fines after concluding there was not enough evidence to “disprove the version of events provided by attendees”.A Met spokesperson said: “The photo by itself is not sufficient evidence on which to assess that an offence had been committed.”However, it was considered by detectives alongside all other relevant material.READ MORE: Sunak issued triple lock warning as Tory voters set to abandon party Shaun Bailey was with two dozen staffers caught having a gathering (Image: N/C)”This included speaking to staff at the venue, and in line with the Met’s established approach to retrospective investigations of coronavirus regulations, issuing legal questionnaires to a number of people who had been identified from the photo.”They added: “The investigation reviewed all the material thoroughly and, after careful consideration, it was determined that there was insufficient evidence to disprove the version of events provided by attendees to a standard that would meet the threshold required.”Findings of the investigation have reignited anger among supporters of Boris Johnson as to why he was fined for his own lockdown breach.The former Prime Minister was issued a fixed penalty notice for eating cake in the cabinet room on his birthday during the first lockdown.One Tory MP who remains loyal to the former Conservative leader told Express.co.uk: “It just goes to show it’s a joke really.”The Met made the rules up as they went along. They only fined Boris because of pressure from the liberal media.”DON’T MISS:UK takes first step toward recession as economy shrinks [INSIGHT]Brexit row breakthrough as Sunak says he’s ‘pleased with progress’ [UPDATE]Sunak’s constituency among areas with most veterans – new data [DATA] Shaun Bailey was the party’s candidate for London mayor last year (Image: Getty) He quit his role on a London Assembly committee after the photo emerged (Image: Getty)Mr Bailey quit his role as chair of the police and crime committee late last year when images his gathering first emerged.He said the gathering was “unauthorised” and that he was resigning because he did not want the matter to “distract from the committee’s important work holding the mayor of London to account”.While Mr Bailey and his colleagues have not been charged with breaching the rules, senior Cabinet minister Grant Shapps at the time described the images as “disgraceful”.”This time last year my dad was in hospital – we couldn’t visit him, we didn’t know whether we’d see him again, we couldn’t visit him for four months and we were very careful to stick to all of the rules,” said.”I expect everybody should do the same.”Some Tory staffers were disciplined for attending the event.The Met Police’s decision to take no further action over the gathering comes just days after it was claimed Mr Bailey is among 20 people nominated by former Prime Minister to have a seat in the House of Lords.The list is currently being assessed by the House of Lords appointments commission.A spokesman for Mr Johnson said: “We do not comment on baseless speculation about honours or appointments.”