Politics live: Ministers prepare for release of ‘stomach churning’ Sue Gray report after

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It’s 6pm, this is your evening politics bulletin from Sky News.

Today’s headlines:

Story of the day:

Police have ended their investigation into lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street and Whitehall, and have given out 126 fines for 83 people – but Boris Johnson has avoided receiving any further penalties.

The £460,000 investigation into the partygate scandal, which has lasted nearly four months, has already resulted in fines for the prime minister, his wife Carrie and Chancellor Rishi Sunak over a birthday gathering for the prime minister.

Policing minister Kit Malthouse told reporters: “The prime minister’s obviously apologised for the birthday cake incident. I hope now that we can move on to really deal with some of the big issues facing the country.”

But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who has called for Mr Johnson to quit over his fine, said the investigation had shown “industrial scale law breaking in Downing Street… that reflects a culture and the prime minister sets the culture”.

All eyes now turn to next week, when the investigation carried out by senior civil servant Sue Gray is expected to be published in full.

Evidence turned up by her investigation is what prompted the police to open a criminal inquiry in the first place. The interim version of her report, published in January, signalled the full version is likely to be highly critical.

Analysis:

Many MPs told their constituents they would reserve judgement on Mr Johnson’s fate until the Met investigation concluded and the Sue Gray report was published. So next week, they will have to decide whether to back the prime minister or not.

That’s why people in Number 10 are relieved by the conclusion of the police investigation, but not yet in a position to celebrate the prime minister’s survival.

Read the full analysis by our political editor Beth Rigby here:

Clip of the day:

Helen Ball, acting Deputy Commissioner of the Met, tells Sky News: “A number of people, members of the public, have been both surprised and concerned at what they have heard. And I’m sure they will be surprised and concerned about the outcome of our investigation.”