Metropolitan Police launched a criminal investigation into Downing Street rallies on Jan. 25, but were slow until Tuesday, with minimal warnings of two or three of the 12 incidents under investigation. Understandably, detectives have been called upon to speed up the pace amid concerns that further delays could lead to damages after the start of the local election campaign. The official purdah season – when restrictions are imposed on government departments in the run-up to elections – begins on Thursday. And while police investigations are not subject to such rules, Met senior executives were aware of the potential consequences of making politically sensitive announcements during an election campaign. Sources told The Telegraph that purdah rules would not prevent Ms. Gray from publishing her findings next week, even if the Met investigation is not complete. However, with the May elections approaching, any further delay in publishing the report will be considered problematic, which means that if it is not published next week, it could be another month before the results are made public. The announcement that Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak were among the 30 people still receiving constant notices of sanctions came to a halt with Parliament, meaning MPs could not challenge them in the Chamber.
