Just when Boris thought the worst was over with Partygate. The former Prime Minister has today been referred to the police by the Cabinet Office over fresh claims that he broke Covid lockdown rules. According to the Times, Johnson’s ministerial diary from 2020 and 2021 has revealed visits by friends to Chequers during the pandemic.

The trips to the grace and favour residence were highlighted during preparations for the Covid public inquiry. In an incredible twist of fate, this story appears to have come about because the government is currently paying Johnson’s legal fees for the duration of the inquiry. He handed over the aforementioned diaries to the lawyers but as the client the Cabinet Office got to see them.

The Cabinet Office then felt obliged under the terms of the civil service code to refer the matter to the police and the House of Commons privileges committee. The Metropolitan Police and Thames Valley Police are both now investigating the matter. The privileges committee, which is probing claims that Johnson misled parliament over lockdown-breaking parties, has also been informed.

In response to tonight’s developments, Johnson’s camp denied breaching the rules and said that all visits were in line with regulations at the time. Where have we heard that before, eh?  His team are calling the referral a ‘clearly politically motivated attempt to manufacture something out of nothing.’

The Guardian is now suggesting that the scale of the events listed in the diary is quite large as they detail the family and friends invited to Chequers when restrictions were in force. In No. 10, it was claimed those people were government employees but at the PM’s countryside retreat, this may be harder to argue.

Looks like Boris is still affected by long Covid…