Boris Johnson is facing more scrutiny after pictures were leaked of him toasting a party with a glass of wine.
The Prime Minister does not believe he was at a lockdown-breaking party in the images Cabinet ally said this morning.
Grant Shapps said he was “angry” to see the photographs but suggested the Prime Minister may not have been fined over the event because he left the leaving do “pretty quick”.
His former aide Dominic Cummings had pre-empted the leak on his blog, suggesting the pictures would prove he had lied to police.
Dominic Cummings has been accused of leaking the pictures
PA
And a Tory source told the Mail Online they believe Mr Johnson's former aide is the culprit.
They said: "This has got Dom's fingerprints all over it."
Downing Street has declined to defend the scenes ahead of the publication of Sue Gray’s inquiry, which a No 10 source expects to be published on Wednesday.
The leaving do took place just days after the Prime Minister had ordered England’s second national lockdown.
Mr Johnson, who the Transport Secretary claimed was “mortified” by the latest revelations, was facing fresh allegations he lied to Parliament after ITV News published the images.
Boris toasting guests with a glass of wine
ITV News
Scotland Yard was also facing calls to explain why Mr Johnson was not fined over that event when photos showed him, drink in hand, by a table strewn with food and wine bottles.
There were at least eight other people in the room at a time when people were banned from social mixing, other than to meet one person outside, and at least one individual has received a fine over an event on that date.
Mr Shapps pointed to Mr Johnson’s red ministerial box being present in the images as he claimed to Sky News the Prime Minister was “clearly not” partying.
“It looks to me like he goes down on his way out of the office and thanks the staff and raises a glass, and doesn’t in his mind recognise it as a party,” Mr Shapps said.
The Transport Secretary told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he was “angry” to see the images, as he sought to explain why Mr Johnson was not fined over that event.
“It looks to me he was asked to go and thank a member of staff who was leaving, raises a glass to them and I imagine comes in and out pretty quick, which is presumably why the police have not issued a fixed-penalty notice to the Prime Minister for that event,” he said.
But Mr Shapps said the Met does not need to explain its rationale despite calls coming from those including London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
“I don’t think the police should provide running commentaries, no,” the Cabinet minister said.