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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Léonie Chao-Fong (now); Andrew Sparrow (earlier)

Downing Street parties: Sue Gray report could come this week as police signal no objection – as it happened

Sue Gray Boris Johnson Downing Street James Johnson Downing Street (Organization) No 10 Carrie Johnson Cabinet Office (Organization) Cressida Dick Ukraine

Closing summary

Here is a summary of the latest key developments:

  • Boris Johnson is braced for the most perilous 48 hours of his premiership, with exasperated Conservative MPs due to see an official inquiry by the senior civil servant Sue Gray, reportedly set to be published this week.
  • The Metropolitan Police has launched an investigation into alleged parties held in Number 10 during lockdown. Officers were looking into “potential breaches of Covid-19 regulations” in Downing Street and Whitehall since 2020, Commissioner Cressida Dick said.
  • Number 10 said it had not yet received Sue Gray’s report but reports say the PM could make a statement on it in the House of Commons on Wednesday afternoon.
  • Many Conservative MPs said they are waiting for the report before deciding whether to try to remove Johnson. North West Leicestershire MP Andrew Bridgen said he hoped the report would be published “unredacted” on Wednesday.
  • Northern Ireland minister Conor Burns claimed the prime minister had been “ambushed with a cake” during his birthday when, according to reports, his wife Carrie Johnson organised a surprise birthday get-together on 19 June 2020 against Covid restrictions.
  • Labour leader Keir Starmer said trust in Boris Johnson is at an “all-time low”, adding that some members of the Cabinet “need to look themselves in the mirror and ask themselves why they are still supporting this prime minister.”

Tory MPs have told The Telegraph that Boris Johnson would have to go as prime minister if he was fined for breaching Covid laws. One said:

If you are found to have broken the laws that you yourself have set, I do think that would be impossible for you to continue. And frankly, anyone with decency would not do so.

And another told the paper:

If the Met rules against the PM, he will have to go.

From their associate editor, Christopher Hope:

Updated

Sue Gray's report 'not with Number 10 tonight'

The findings of the Sue Gray inquiry will not be handed to Downing Street this evening, according to reports.

The Times’ Steven Swinford says this means the report will likely not be published before Thursday.

The Daily Telegraph’s Ben Riley-Smith also quotes sources that the report has not been handed to Downing Street.

The Daily Mirror’s Pippa Crerar maintains there is still speculation that the report will be published tomorrow.

Updated

From ITV News’s Anushka Asthana:

Updated

Tory whips have reportedly told MPs that Sue Gray’s report will be published tomorrow.

From PoliticsHome’s senior correspondent, Adam Payne:

But the Daily Telegraph’s Christopher Hope said there is a huge amount of uncertainty in parliament and that no one really knows when the report will be published.

Updated

As Boris Johnson prepares to face possibly his most difficult day in politics, Tory MPs said his fate was “hanging in the balance”.

Two tumultuous months could come to a head with the publication of a report by the senior civil servant Sue Gray, whose gathering of evidence and interviewing of key witnesses for her inquiry into Downing Street parties could provide the spark for a leadership challenge.

Arch-critics of the prime minister are hopeful that Gray’s findings will be damaging enough to trigger what they believe will be the final trickle of letters needed to get to 54 and force a no confidence vote.

One said: “No 10 has shifted the goalposts so far now, but it’s clear Johnson misled the House when he assured us no rules were broken in Downing Street. There’s no chance many others will be able to escape that conclusion.”

Another was confident that colleagues would take the choice to “end this nightmare ourselves” and when asking themselves “how much they are willing to put up with”, decide this week that inaction was “not sustainable”.

Read the full article here:

Northern Ireland Minister Conor Burns, one of the PM’s staunch allies, has claimed that Boris Johnson was “ambushed with a cake” when, according to reports, his wife Carrie Johnson organised a surprise birthday gathering on 19 June 2020.

Speaking to Channel 4 News this evening, he said:

It was not a premeditated, organised party in that sense, that the prime minister himself decided to have.

As far as I can see, he was, in a sense, ambushed with a cake.

They came to his office with a cake, they sang Happy Birthday, he was there for 10 minutes.

I don’t think most people looking at that at home would characterise that as a party.

Here’s a clip from the interview:

Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said he hoped Sue Gray’s report would be published on Wednesday.

Speaking to Channel 4 News, he said the conclusions of the civil servant’s inquiry should be published “unredacted”. He added:

I think the sooner the report comes out now the better, if it is completed, because we can’t sit under this cloud, paralysing the Prime Minister, paralysing the government.

Referencing the threat of Russian invasion into Ukraine, he continued:

These issues that are hanging over our government at the moment, they need to be dealt with as soon as possible and I do hope that Sue Gray gets her report in tonight and it is published tomorrow.

Updated

Boris Johnson spent several hours today meeting with a number of Tory MPs who were wavering in their support of him, PoliticsHome reports.

Sources told the website that MPs have apparently been in and out of his office all day and that those invited are a “real mixture” of the Tory cohort, including several less rebellious MPs that may seem “surprising”.

They said Johnson met with 2019-intake MPs this morning, before meeting with other rebel MPs across the afternoon and into the evening.

An update from ITV News’ Robert Peston

The Sue Gray report will “make for very uncomfortable reading” for Boris Johnson and Tory MPs, ITV News reports.

Its political editor, Robert Peston, said the PM may have already seen the report, adding that it would “make clear that it is up to the police to decide if the law has been broken, civil service HR to decide whether officials should be punished and Tory MPs whether the PM should be sacked”.

Updated

Rishi Sunak accidentally attended Boris Johnson’s birthday gathering on 19 June 2020, Yahoo News UK reports.

According to a Treasury source, the chancellor went to the cabinet room for a Covid strategy committee meeting, and happened upon the celebration.

From their political correspondent, Nadine Batchelor-Hunt:

Keir Starmer has said trust in Boris Johnson is at an “all-time low”.

Speaking this evening, the Labour leader has said some members of the cabinet need to “look themselves in the mirror” and ask why they are still supporting the prime minister. He added:

There’s a Metropolitan police investigation into the goings on in Downing Street. It’s time that some of those cabinet members spoke out and said we’re not tolerating this any longer.

The shadow attorney general, Emily Thornberry, said the public “all know what happened”. Speaking to BBC News, she said:

He was having parties in No 10. He wasn’t applying any of the rules to himself. He thought he was Julius Caesar or something, like the rules didn’t apply to him.

Updated

Crispin Blunt, a long-serving Tory backbencher, has characterised partygate as a “premier-class Whitehall farce”.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4 this evening, he said:

This whole episode is really beginning to descend into a premier-class Whitehall farce. We’ve lost our sense of perspective on this.

Everybody needs to take a step back and try to put themselves in the same situation as the centre of the government was, in 2020 – the fact we very nearly lost our prime minister. You know how hard civil servants work at the heart of our government – they work every night God sends combating a completely unprecedented public health crisis for our country.

We’ve now got the Metropolitan police investing alleged criminality – in breathless tones from the deputy leader of the opposition about some terrible offence – which would attract a fixed penalty notice.

No one is suggesting that if the prime minister had been caught speeding that he should be sacked – I hope. He shouldn’t be driving himself in any case! But let’s try and get it into perspective.

Updated

Sky News’ Beth Rigby reports that No 10 is preparing the ground for a statement by Boris Johnson on Sue Gray’s report tomorrow.

Government officials have handed over images of alleged parties in Downing Street to investigators, Sky News reports.

The photographs, seen by Sue Gray, are believed to feature Boris Johnson and show people close together with wine bottles.

From Sky News’ deputy political editor, Sam Coates:

Savanta ComRes has published some new polling on partygate. It suggests more than half of voters do not trust the Metropolitan police to investigate partygate, and more than half of voters think fines would be too lenient as punishment for breaches of the Covid rules. Here is an extract from the news release.

Half (51%) of the British public say that they do not trust the Metropolitan police investigation to uncover whether Coronavirus rules and regulations were broken at a series of lockdown get-togethers in No 10 Downing Street according to a snap poll by Savanta ComRes.

And although two in five (42%) say that they do trust the Met’s investigation, only 8% say that they trust it “a great deal”.

The investigation by the Metropolitan police is likely to only have the power to issue fines to those it finds have breached Coronavirus regulations, and a majority (59%) of the public say that this is too lenient, including 42% of 2019 Conservative voters. A third (32%) of the public say that fixed penalty notices are about a fair punishment.

The poll also suggests 67% of people think Boris Johnson should resign - “although this figure is practically unchanged from earlier this month when the prime minister admitted to briefly attending a BYOB drinks event in the Downing Street garden while Britain was in its first full lockdown”, Savanta ComRes says.

That is all from me for today. My colleague Leonie Chao-Fong is taking over now.

Boris Johnson in the Commons today for his statement on Ukraine
Boris Johnson in the Commons today for his statement on Ukraine. Photograph: Jessica Parker/Parliament

Updated

From ITV’s Anushka Asthana

Conor Burns, a Northern Ireland minister and one of the arch Johnson loyalists in government, told BBC News that, with the Covid pandemic easing, the PM would “relish getting back to the domestic agenda”. He also said he thought Boris Johnson would see off the threat to his leadership. He said:

I believe that there will not be a vote of confidence, I believe that Boris Johnson will be prime minister for many years ahead, and I believe that Boris Johnson will win the next general election.

The lack of doubt on show from the Johnson Praetorian Guard today (see Jacob Rees-Mogg this morning at 11.51am for another example) is certainly a notch or two beyond what we have heard from them in the past. But their public certainty is probably in inverse proportion to the confidence they feel in private about the PM’s chances of survival.

Conor Burns
Conor Burns. Photograph: BBC News

Updated

ITV’s Robert Peston has also been told that the Sue Gray report is set for publication within the next 24 hours.

Pippa Crerar, the Daily Mirror’s political editor, says No 10 is expected to get the Sue Gray report tonight.

No 10 has always said it expects to release the report to MPs, and to the public, soon after receiving it from Gray and her team.

Updated

Opposition parties are renewing their calls for the Sue Gray report to be published in full this week.

Kirsten Oswald, the SNP’s deputy leader at Westminster, said:

Sue Gray’s report cannot be kicked into the long grass while the Metropolitan police conduct their investigation. There is nothing stopping Ms Gray’s report from being published as planned, given that the Metropolitan police has not raised any objections.

And this is from Alistair Carmichael, the Lib Dem home affairs spokesman.

Updated

No 10 says talks still under way about how Sue Gray report can be published before police inquiry over

At the afternoon lobby briefing the PM’s spokesman denied claims that No 10 wanted to delay publication of parts of the Sue Gray report. He told reporters:

I have seen reports suggesting that we were seeking to prevent the publication and that is not accurate.

(Actually, those reports were based on what Downing Street itself was saying this morning. See 12.55pm.)

But, in terms of what would be published, the spokesman said this was unresolved. He said:

There are discussions still ongoing between the investigations team and the police. That still needs to be worked through both in relation to what may or may not be published and the ongoing work of both the police and the investigation.

Updated

Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, walking past a police officer in Downing Street as she left cabinet this morning.
Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, walking past a police officer in Downing Street as she left cabinet this morning. Photograph: Mark Thomas/REX/Shutterstock

At the afternoon lobby briefing No 10 insisted that it was not trying to block publication of the Sue Gray report. But it said that discussions between the police and the inquiry team were still ongoing as to what could be published.

Sue Gray's report now reportedly set to be published this week after Met says no need to hold material back

And the Times is now reporting this as definite. “Sue Gray, the civil servant investigating lockdown breaking parties in Downing Street, still intends to publish her report this week despite a police investigation into potential criminality,” Fiona Hamilton, Oliver Wright and Steven Swinford report in their story (paywall). They go on:

Whitehall sources said that Gray had cleared publication with the Metropolitan Police and plans to hand it over to Boris Johnson later this week.

They added that while the final decision on whether to publish would be in the hands of the prime minister they expected that it would be released in full.

The Sun’s Harry Cole also thinks we now may get the whole of the Sue Gray report this week (as originally expected at the start of the day).

John McTernan, who worked for Tony Blair in Downing Street at the time of the cash-for-honours investigation (see 12.26pm), has posted a thread on Twitter with some advice for No 10 staffers who get questioned by the police. It starts here.

Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader, has renewed his call for Boris Johnson to resign. This is from the BBC’s Glenn Campbell.

The BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg is getting the same steer that Sky’s Sam Coates has been getting. (See 3.19pm.)

Despite what No 10 said at the lobby briefing (see 12.55pm) and Michael Ellis, the Cabinet Office minister, told MPs (see 12.41pm), Sam Coates from Sky News says he has been told that the Sue Gray report may now be published in full - and that the plan to publish the findings about the non-criminal No 10 events first, but to leave the findings about the events being investigated by the police until later (see 12.55pm) has been shelved.

Coates told on Sky News that publishing the full report was an option, but that it was not clear yet how probable an option it was.

The terms of reference (pdf) for the Gray investigation say:

As with all internal investigations, if during the course of the work any evidence emerges of behaviour that is potentially a criminal offence, the matter will be referred to the police and the Cabinet Office’s work may be paused.

No 10 seems to have been treating this as evidence that publication of the findings relevant to the Met inquiry should be paused.

But the wording only says the Gray inquiry “may” have to be paused on these grounds.

The wording also talks about criminal offences. A breach of lockdown rules dealt with via a fixed-penalty notice (a fine) would not count as a criminal offence; for example, it would not have to be declared to an employer. (Dame Cressida Dick, the Met police commissioner, made it clear this morning that these were the sort of offences that would result in a fine - see 11.03am.)

And the whole rationale for pausing a civil service investigation would be to avoid prejudicing a police inquiry and a possible court case. But the Met has signalled that it does not expect these matters to end up in court, and it is hard to see how the investigation would prejudice the police inquiry because the police inquiry seems to be almost entirely based on what the Cabinet Office has discovered.

Updated

YouGov has released polling suggesting 62% of Britons think Boris Johnson should resign. Two weeks ago it was 56%.

James Johnson, a pollster who worked in Downing Street when Theresa May was prime minister, reckons Keir Starmer is the big winner from today’s events. He explains why in a short Twitter thread.

Deputy assistant commissioner Jane Connors, the Metropolitan police’s lead for Covid-19, is responsible for the investigation into alleged rule-breaking parties in Downing Street, PA Media reports. A Scotland Yard spokesperson said:

The special enquiry team will lead the investigations. DAC Jane Connors will oversee the investigation in her role as the Met’s lead officer for Covid.

Updated

Sir Edward Leigh, the Conservative backbencher, has told Sky News that he thinks the mood in his party is more “stable” now than it was. He said he thought the flow of letters to the 1922 Committee chair calling for a no-confidence vote in Boris Johnson was drying up, and that the public were “moving on” from the partygate story.

Updated

In a statement on the police inquiry into parties at No 10 from the Green party, the Green peer Jenny Jones said:

I welcome this much delayed police investigation into rule breaking by the prime minister’s office. The decision, finally, to investigate partygate suggests there were serious and flagrant breaches of the rules at the time ...

I hope the Met will now look at the charge of “misconduct in public office” as this allows the use of search warrants and goes beyond what Sue Gray has been able to do. It would also be good to see the Met police add other matters to their list of questions such as cash for peerages, the fast track scheme of PPE contracts and cash for access involving the decoration of the Downing Street flat.

Jones may have been reading these tweets from Adam Wagner, the lawyer and lockdown regulation specialist.

Britain ready to deploy more troops to protect Nato allies if Russia invades Ukraine, Johnson tells MPs

Here is the start of the PA Media story about Boris Johnson’s statement to MPs about the Russsian threat to Ukraine.

Britain is prepared to deploy troops to protect Nato allies in Europe should Russia invade Ukraine, Boris Johnson said, as he warned Vladimir Putin faces “ferocious” Ukrainian resistance.

The prime minister also said the UK and its allies stand ready to impose “heavy economic sanctions” on Russia and voiced fears that any invasion would result in “bloodshed comparable to the first war in Chechnya or Bosnia”.

Johnson told the House of Commons: “If Russia pursues this path, many Russian mothers’ sons will not be coming home. The response in the international community would be the same and the pain that would be inflicted on the Russian economy will be the same.”

He made an appeal for diplomacy to resolve the tensions and avoid a war that would “earn and would deserve the condemnation of history”.

Labour leader Keir Starmer said his party “stands resolute” in supporting Ukraine’s independence and sovereignty.

Earlier, foreign secretary Liz Truss failed to rule out UK combat troops being sent to help defend Ukraine - but told MPs such a scenario is “unlikely”.

Johnson, making a statement to the Commons, went on to say: “The British army leads the Nato battle group in Estonia and if Russia invades Ukraine, we would look to contribute to any new Nato deployments to protect our allies in Europe.”

Updated

In a blog with his asssessment of the implications of the police decision to investigate the No 10 parties, Robert Peston, ITV’s political editor, also concludes this is a bad development for the Conservative party. Here’s an extract.

Some will say it gives the PM more time to prepare his excuses for whenever the Met reaches its conclusions and Gray publishes, and gives him more time to lobby his anxious MPs that this is not the time to throw him out.

But the Gray report will be what it is, whenever it is published. And those close to the investigation tell me that although she will not pass explicit judgment on whether the PM has lied to public and parliament, breaching the ministerial code – and will not do so because that is not her remit – neutral readers of what she eventually publishes would struggle to reach any other conclusion.

Updated

Gavin Barwell, chief of staff for Theresa May when she was PM, has posted a thread on Twitter on the implications of the police decision to investigate No 10 parties. It starts here.

And here is one of his conclusions.

Met 'did not object to publication of Gray report'

The decision to pause the publication of the parts of the Sue Gray report relating to events being investigated by the police seems to have been taken by government, not by the Met, my colleague Vikram Dodd reports. He has been told, by sources with knowledge of its discussions and actions, that the Met did not raise any objection to the publication of the Gray report.

Updated

In his response to Johnson, Keir Starmer said Labour supported the government’s moves to help Ukraine to defend itself, and to deter Russia from further aggression.

He said for too long the west had allowed Putin to think he could do what he liked. That message had to change, he said. Russia should be shown that further aggression would result in severe consequences.

Starmer also said the government should do more to stop the UK being used as a “laundromat” for illicit money from the Russian elite.

Johnson says Russian invasion of Ukraine would be 'tragic and futile'

Johnson is now talking about the Russian threat to Ukraine.

He says he shudders to contemplate what would happen if there were an invasion. Ukrainian resistance would be “dogged and tenacious”, and the bloodshed comparable to that in the Chechnya or Bosnia conflicts, he says. Russia would create a wasteland and there would never be peace.

He says that when he spoke to President Putin in December, he told him that Nato had no thought of encircling or threatening his country.

But he also told Putin that Ukraine had the right to protection too, he says. He says he told Putin that an attack on Ukraine would be met by tougher sanctions.

He summarises what was agreed at the video conference of leading Nato leaders last night.

Johnson says the UK has provided Ukraine with anti-armour missiles.

If Putin chooses the path of bloodshed and destruction, that will be “tragic and futile”, he says.

He says that when he spoke to Putin in December, he said Russia and Britain had stood together in the past.

And he says both sides would yet find a path to mutual security “through patient and principled diplomacy”.

Updated

PM tells MPs police inquiry into partygate will give public 'clarity it needs' and 'draw line' under affair

Boris Johnson is making his statement to MPs.

It will mostly be on Ukraine, but he starts by talking about the police investigation.

He says he commissioned the investigation into events in Downing Street. That involved sharing information with the police continuously, and so he welcomes the Met police decision to launch their own investigation, he says.

I believe this will help to give the public the clarity it needs and help to draw a line under matters.

But Johnson says he also wants to assure people that the government is focused “100% on dealing with the people’s priorities”, including defending freedom around the world.

UPDATE: Johnson said:

A few weeks ago I commissioned an independent inquiry into a series of events in Downing Street, in the Cabinet Office as well as some other Whitehall departments that may have constituted potential breaches of the Covid regulations.

That process has quite properly involved sharing information continuously with the Metropolitan police, so I welcome the Met’s decision to conduct its own investigation because I believe this will help to give the public the clarity it needs and help to draw a line under matters.

But I want to reassure the House and the country, that I and the whole government are focused 100% on dealing with the people’s priorities, including the UK’s leading role in protecting freedom around the world.

Updated

Justin Madders (Lab) asks why the PM is still in his job when he told MPs there was no party.

Ellis says people work are entitled to a “reasonable break”. He says eating cake for 10 minutes does not constitute a party.

Back in the Commons Lia Nici (Con) claimed her constituents were “sick and tired” of hearing opposition MPs go on continually about partygate. She asked Michael Ellis, the minister, to pass on to the PM their support, and their desire for him to carry on implementing his policies.

Ellis said other MPs were passing on the same message.

Updated

Johnson thinks it is 'entirely right' for police to investigate Downing Street parties, says No 10

This is what the PM’s spokesman told journalists at the Downing Street lobby briefing about the PM’s reaction to the Met police inquiry.

Firstly, the prime minister thinks it is entirely right for the police to investigate these matters.

He commissioned the Cabinet Office to establish the facts and, as set out in the published terms of reference, and as the [Met] commissioner has said this morning, the independent process has always involved the sharing of information with the Met and the ability for the Met to take forward and investigate matters pertaining to the law, as is right.

The PM fully acknowledges the public’s anger and concern about what has been reported, he has taken responsibility for his judgments made and it is right the Met should be now given the time and space to undertake their investigations.

It will provide the public with welcome clarity and help draw a line under these events and everyone required will fully co-operate in any way they are asked.

The spokesman also said that Boris Johnson knew before cabinet started that the Met commissioner would be announcing a police investigation. But he did not mention it during cabinet, apart from an allusion to it at the end, the spokesman said.

Mark Jenkinson (Con) says the opposition benches are “in cahoots with the media” to undemocratically unseat the prime minister because he is a threat to them.

In the Commons Stuart Anderson (Con) tells MPs that calling for Boris Johnson’s resignation is only “strengthening Putin’s hand”.

Every time the opposition call for our prime minister to resign, does my right honourable friend agree that we’re only strengthening Putin’s hand and destabilising negotiations?

Updated

In the Common Giles Watling (Con) say this urgent question is “a vexatious waste of everybody’s time”.

The Speaker, Sir Linsday Hoyle, says that is a reflection on his judgment in granting it. Watling withdraws his question.

In the Commons some Conservative MPs are defending Boris Johnson. Sir Edward Leigh urges colleagues to maintain “a sense of proportion” about the PM being given a piece of cake by staff. And Richard Bacon said this was not as serious as Tony Blair being interviewed by the police about cash for honours (see 12.26pm), or a Labour MP taking money from a Chinese spy.

No 10 suggests Sue Gray report to be split in two and PM does not think he broke the law

The Downing Street lobby briefing has just finished, and the PM’s spokesman has confirmed that the findings of the Sue Gray inquiry into the events now being investigated by the police will not be published until the inquiry is over.

In the Commons a few minutes ago Michael Ellis, a minister, said the Gray inquiry would continue.

But at the lobby briefing the spokesman implied that the Gray inquiry would be effectively split in two. The findings relating to events that were not deemed illegal might be published soon, he implied. But the other findings would be held back. The spokesman told journalistss:

As the terms of reference make clear, they won’t publish anything that relates to the work of the police, there are a number of events and allegations that they have looked into that the police said don’t reach their threshold, which they are able to continue looking into. And it is my understanding that they will be able to publish detail about those events rather than ones which the police might be taking forward.

It’s up to the investigation team when they publish, it’s my understanding they are able to publish the aspects that aren’t a matter for the police.

The spokeman also told reporters that Boris Johnson thought it was “entirely right” for the police to investigate.

The prime minister think it is entirely right for the police to investigate these matters. He commissioned the Cabinet Office to find out the facts.

The spokesman sidestepped questions about whether Johnson is now getting legal advice ahead of the police inquiry.

But he said Johnson still does not think he broke the law.

Updated

Ellis says Rayner he agrees with her they should be focusing on cost-of-living matters instead.

The fact that the police are investigating does not mean people will be fined, he says. He says “potentially” is an operable word. He cites the statement from Cressida Dick.

(In fact, unusually, the Met statement about this investigation implied there was little doubt about the law having been broken in this case. See 11.03am.)

Updated

Angela Rayner, the deputy Labour leader, says the terms of reference for the Sue Gray inquiry say if evidence of criminal behaviour is found, it must be referred to the police.

When will the Gray report be published?

Will it be published in full, with accompanying evidence?

What will Gray do while the police investigation is under way?

Is the chancellor cooperating with the Gray inquiry, as a resident of Downing Street?

Rayner says only a few weeks ago the PM said there was no party. How does Ellis explain that?

Updated

Minister responds to Commons urgent question on Met investigation into No 10 parties

Michael Ellis, the Cabinet Office minister, is responding to the Labour UQ.

He says he recognises public indignation that people setting the rules “may” not have been following them.

That “may” prompts some laughter.

He repeats the point he made two weeks ago about how, if evidence of criminality occurred, the matter could be referred to the police.

He says there has been contact between the police and Sue Gray’s team. But the Cabinet Office investigation led by Gray will continue, he says.

He says the findings of the investigation will be provided to MPs, and made public.

He says he cannot comment on an ongoing police investigation.

Updated

From my colleague Jessica Elgot

A reader has been in touch to ask if Downing Street has ever been investigated by the police before. The answer is yes, and not that long ago. When Tony Blair was PM, the police investigated claims that honours had been effectively sold by No 10 (the cash-for-honours scandal). The prime minister’s chief fundraiser, and a key No 10 aide, were arrested as part of the inquiry, but eventually the CPS decided not to press charges.

Blair himself was interviewed by the police as part of the inquiry. But, in what may set a precedence of sorts for this case, Blair was not interviewed under caution. In other words, he was interviewed as a witness, not as a suspect.

Around that time it was reported that the police were told by Downing Street that, if they did interview Blair under caution, he felt would have to resign.

Whether Boris Johnson will feel the same principle ought to apply in his case is yet to be revealed.

Michael Fabricant, the Conservative backbencher, has been one of Boris Johnson’s most vocal supporters in recent days, but not all his contributions to the public debate have been judged wise or helpful by colleagues. This may be another contribution to the collection.

For an alternative view, this is from Iain Dale, the broadcaster and former Conservative party aide.

The Conservative MP Simon Hoare has said Boris Johnson’s situation is “increasingly difficult”, Bloomberg’s Kitty Donaldson reports.

Lord Evans, the chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, said this morning that MPs should have “less direct involvement” in “judging each other” on their conduct. Giving evidence to the Commons standards committee on the code of conduct for MPs, he said:

I think that in terms of the public credibility of disciplinary processes, if you want to put it in those terms, I think the general sort of direction of travel in recent years has been towards more independence.

So ... 40 years ago, many of the professions would have looked to their professional body to regulate them. I think, increasingly, that has proved not to be as effective as there has been a public appetite for - so, accountancy ... has a separate regulator now, and that’s true of many of the other professions.

I think there is a scepticism as to whether ... adjudicating on the behaviour of your friends and close associates is credible.

So our view was that in terms of the effectiveness and credibility of the system... less direct involvement of MPs in judging each other would have greater credibility.

Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London, has welcomed the news that the Met police are investigating lockdown breaches at No 10. He said:

I welcome confirmation that the Met police is investigating a number of events that took place at Downing Street and Whitehall in the last two years in relation to potential breaches of the law.

The public rightly expect the police to uphold the law without fear or favour, no matter who that involves, and I have been clear that members of the public must be able to expect the highest standards from everyone, including the prime minister and those around him.

No one is above the law. There cannot be one rule for the government and another for everyone else.

Updated

Boris Johnson is due to make a statement to MPs about the Russian threat to Ukraine. It will start at around 1.15pm.

At the London assembly committee hearing Dame Cressida Dick, commissioner of the Metropolitan police, was asked if any of the officers guarding Downing Street had expressed concerns about parties. She replied:

There are a number of officers posted in the surrounds of Downing Street and indeed what we call generally the government security zone.

They have a very clear role and that is protective security. You’ll be aware that the ones you see are all armed, and they have a job to do.

In relation to anything they may have seen or heard, or done or not done. Again, I’m afraid I’m not prepared to comment.

But I can assure you that we are carrying out our investigations and if that is a relevant matter, we will find out about that.

This is from David Davis, the former Brexit secretary, who last week told Boris Johnson at PMQs that he should resign.

As he left No 10 after cabinet, Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the Commons and one of Boris Johnson’s stronger supporters, brushed off questions about the police investigation. He told reporters:

The government is going from strength to strength.

The government has done an amazing job: the vaccine rollout, the furlough programme, the economy [bouncing back to] pre-pandemic level. The leadership of Boris Johnson this country has had has been so brilliant that he’s got us through this incredibly difficult period and he’s got all the decisions right. We have opened up faster than any other European country thanks to the prime minister and I’m honoured to be under his leadership.

Jacob Rees-Mogg speaking to reporters after cabinet.
Jacob Rees-Mogg speaking to reporters after cabinet. Photograph: Henry Nicholls/Reuters

Updated

Sue Gray partygate report 'set to be delayed until police investigation over'

Sue Gray will not publish her inquiry until the Met police have concluded their investigation into alleged criminal activity in Downing Street, according to sources. The Met police confirmed that Gray had handed over her preliminary findings.

A Cabinet Office spokesman said work would continue on the inquiry. “The investigation being carried out by Sue Gray is continuing,” the spokesman said. “There is in ongoing contact with the Metropolitan police service.”

The inquiry’s terms of reference state:

As with all internal investigations, if during the course of the work any evidence emerges of behaviour that is potentially a criminal offence, the matter will be referred to the police and the Cabinet Office’s work may be paused.

Matters relating to adherence to the law are properly for the police to investigate and the Cabinet Office will liaise with them as appropriate.

In a statement, the Metropolitan police said:

The MPS has had ongoing contact with the Cabinet Office in relation to its inquiry into allegations of gatherings. Throughout this process specialist MPS detectives, supported by senior officers, have continually considered whether criminal investigation into any of these events was proportionate based on the available information.

In recent days the Cabinet Office has provided outline findings from its inquiry to the MPS.

Updated

The Sue Gray report into partygate will now be delayed, according to the FT’s Sebastian Payne.

What is not clear yet, though, is how long the Gray report will be delayed. In the Commons two weeks ago Michael Ellis, a Cabinet Office minister, told MPs that if there was a police investigation, the Gray report might be shelved until the police inquiry had concluded. “If evidence emerges of what was a potentially criminal offence the matter would be referred to the Metropolitan police and the Cabinet Office’s work may be paused,” he said.

Neil Coyle, the Labour MP who referred the parties to the Metropolitan police, said Dame Cressida Dick, the Metropolitan police commissioner, had “serious questions to answer about why the investigation could only be launched now”. Coyle told the Guardian:

It has taken a civil servant whose boss is the prime minister to insist the Metropolitan police investigate these alleged breaches - including taking evidence from its own officers.

Updated

Labour questions how Johnson can stay on as PM given police now investigating No 10

Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, has been granted an urgent question in the Commons on the Met police investigation into partygate. It will start at around 12.30pm.

And she has issued a statement saying she does not see how Boris Johnson can continue as prime minister in the light of the investigation. She said:

We welcome this investigation by the Metropolitan police.

With Boris Johnson’s Downing Street now under police investigation, how on earth can he think he can stay on as prime minister?

Millions of people are struggling to pay the bills, but Boris Johnson and his government are too wrapped up in scandal to do anything about it.

Boris Johnson is a national distraction. Conservative MPs should stop propping him up and he should finally do the decent thing and resign.

Met commissioner suggests some No 10 parties could be 'most serious and flagrant' breach of Covid rules

And this is what Dame Cressida Dick told the London assembly’s police and crime committee in her opening statement about the criteria used to decide when the Met would investigate historic complaints about lockdown breaches.

But, recognising that there might be some occasions where we would investigate retrospectively, we generated some guidelines, only guidelines, but guidelines that we have stuck to.

And you will be aware that we have, on occasion, investigated retrospectively.

Some of my own officers, a few, have received penalty notices when we heard after the fact that they had breached the guidelines. One or two high-profile people also, when it was plain that they had admitted, and there was good evidence, they also after the fact, a few weeks after the fact, received penalty notices.

And the occasions on which we have done that have been where we were looking at something which appeared to be the most serious and flagrant type of breach, and where three factors came into play.

There has to be some kind of evidence - not just somebody saying something.

But my three factors were and are: that there was evidence that those involved knew or ought to have known that what they were doing was an offence; where not investigating would significantly undermine the legitimacy of the law; and where there was little ambiguity around the absence of any reasonable defence.

So in those cases, where those criteria were met, the guidelines suggested that we should potentially investigate further and end up giving people tickets [fines].

These are not criteria that have been widely publicised by the Met before. The fact that Dick says some No 10 parties are now being investigated therefore means that the Met considers that they appear to constitute “the most serious and flagrant type of breach”.

Updated

This is what Dame Cressida Dick told the London assembly’s police and crime committee about why the Met generally has not investigated historic complaints about lockdown breaches.

We do have finite resources, and even more so during the worst periods of the pandemic, when our officers fell ill as well as other people.

And our view was, and is, that it would not normally be a proportionate use of officers’ time to spend their time, bearing in mind the nature of the offences, after the fact investigating what could have been thousands of complaints.

These are summary only offences. The people who commit them get a fixed-penalty notice.

I think in general the public would understand that we need to focus on violent crime and terrorism and other priorities, as well, of course, as doing our bit during the pandemic.

Updated

Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, has responded to the Met police’s announcement by saying he expects to see Boris Johnson interviewed under caution at his local police station. He said:

This is the first step towards justice for millions across the country who have felt so much pain and anger at Boris Johnson’s behaviour.

Boris Johnson is not above the law, he must be treated like anyone else. I now expect the Met to question Boris Johnson under caution at his local police station. If found guilty, he and any others in Downing Street who have broken Covid rules should be fined in the same way as ordinary members of the public.

Statement from commissioner saying No 10 now facing police investigation over breaches of lockdown rules

Here is the statement from Dame Cressida Dick, the Metropolitan police commissioner, announcing that No 10 is now being investigated for breach of lockdown rules.

We have a long-established and effective working relationship with the Cabinet Office, who have an investigative capability.

As you well know they have been carrying out an investigation over the last few weeks.

What I can tell you this morning is that as a result of the information provided by the Cabinet Office inquiry team and, secondly, my officers’ own assessment, I can confirm that the Met is now investigating a number of events that took place at Downing Street and Whitehall in the last two years in relation to potential breaches of Covid-19 regulations.

The fact that we are now investigating does not, of course, mean that fixed-penalty notices will necessarily be issued in every instance and to every person involved.

We will not be giving a running commentary on our current investigations.

Updated

Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, arriving at No 10 ahead of cabinet this morning.
Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, arriving at No 10 ahead of cabinet this morning. Photograph: Rob Pinney/Getty Images

Q: Is the alleged party at CCHQ included?

Dick says there have been various reports in the media. She will not say which ones are being investigated and which are not.

But she repeats her previous points about how some events are not being investigated.

The questioning on partygate has now finished. Dick is now taking questions about the Stephen Port case.

Dick says she is “confident” in the inquiry the Cabinet Office has carried out into these events.

Q: When will you update the public on this investigation?

Dick says she cannot say. But she says they will not give a running commentary.

Updated

Met police commissioner says 'a number of events' at No 10 and Whitehall now being investigated under lockdown laws

Dick says she is going to explain her general approach. They have followed the four E’s: explain the rules, engage with people, [encourage people to obey] and only enforce as a last resort.

She says most people responded very well to police engagement.

The police have “finite resources”, she says. This was a particular problem during the pandemic when people fell ill.

Normally it would not be a “proportionate” use of officers’ time investigating offences committed in the past. These are summary offences that attract fines.

She says it was better to focus on serious crime.

The police have guidelines. And sometimes the police have investigated retrospectively.

Some police officers were investigated after the fact for breaking Covid rules. And some high-profile people were investigated too.

She says these cases were “the most serious and flagrant” kind of breach.

Four conditions had to apply. There had to be evidence, she says.

She says those involved had to know they were committing an offence, the cases had to risk undermining the law, and there had to be little ambiguity about a reasonable defence.

She says the Met has a good relationship with the Cabinet Office. On the basis of what they have said, and on the basis of an assessment by the police, she says she can now confirm that the Met is investigating “a number of events that took place at Downing Street and Whitehall in the last two years in relation to potential breaches of Covid-19 regulations”.

She says other cases are not being investigated because they do not meet the threshold for criminal investigation.

The police will not give a running commentary, she says.

Cressida Dick giving evidence to London assembly
Cressida Dick giving evidence to London assembly. Photograph: London assembly

Updated

The first questions are about partygate.

Unmesh Desai, a Labour member of the committee, asks about government Covid breaches not investigated by the Met. He says public trust in the Met has waned. Will the commissioner review the way she polices the government?

Dick says the Met police “without fear or favour”, impartially, and in an operationally manner.

She says she has investigated more politicians than any other senior officer.

She says:

I absolutely understand that there is deep public concern about the allegations that have been in the media in recent weeks.

Updated

Met police commissioner questioned by London assembly

Dame Cressida Dick, the Metropolitan police commissioner, is appearing now before the London assembly’s police and crime committee.

There is a live feed here.

Gordon Brown, the former Labour prime minister, told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that Boris Johnson’s failure to follow lockdown rules was a moral issue. He explained:

I could not go to the funeral of a very close relative last year at the same time. I couldn’t visit a dying friend in hospital, and there are thousands and thousands of families who were in that position. Therefore, this is not a political issue. This is a moral issue about whether the standards you ask people to follow are standards you are prepared to follow yourself.

Brown was on the programme to talk about his call for the international community to find billions of pounds to prevent starvation in Afghanistan.

According to the Guido Fawkes blog, Dame Cressida Dick, the commissioner of the Metropolitan police, will tell the London assembly’s police and crime committee that the Met will now investigate partying at No 10 when she gives evidence this morning.

The hearing starts at 10am. There is a live feed here.

Updated

Shapps tells media he won’t try to defend No 10 holding birthday do for PM

Good morning. There have now been reports of so many parties or gatherings at No 10 during lockdown that it is hard to keep track (my colleague Aubrey Allegretti has a list here), but different events provoke outrage for different reasons. Some were outrageous because they were clearly full-on parties, by any definition, that could not remotely be described as work events. Two were inflammatory because they took place the night before Prince Philip’s funeral, when civil servants were supposed to be acting with particular decorum. The party in the garden on 20 May 2020 was a shocker too, because it took place despite the organiser being told being advised it was a mistake, and Boris Johnson turned up himself and now claims not to have realised it was against the rules.

In some respects the latest revelation is less serious. Whether it was a proper party is in dispute. But because it was a birthday event, it has huge resonance for all of us who did forgo proper birthday parties during lockdown because we were prepared to follow the rules outlined so often by Johnson himself.

Here is our overnight story, from my colleagues Jessica Elgot and Aubrey Allegretti.

By chance or design, Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, was doing the broadcast round for the government this morning. Shapps is one of the best broadcast performers in government, and if anyone can put a relatively positive gloss on a PR monstrosity, it’s him. But today he didn’t really try.

Yes, he argued that the event was not technically a party. He stressed that it was important to wait for the Sue Gray report into partygate. He praised Johnson’s record on Covid and the vaccine rollout, and he argued that events like the Russian threat to Ukraine were more important.

But, in his interviews, Shapps did not try to defend the birthday party/gathering and he did not contest claims that it was against the rules. “I don’t want to present a defence because I would be adding speculation to speculation,” he told the Today programme’s Justin Webb. And later Shapps said:

What’s in dispute is how many people were there, how long, whether people were socially distanced. But I’m not seeking to defend it. I’m merely saying that with a little bit of patience we can get the facts [from the Sue Gray report].

When it was put to him that the birthday event should not have gone ahead, Shapps said:

I think it’s clearly unwise to do those things, and the prime minister has already said, with reference [to the party in the No 10 garden on 20 May 2020] that he should have sent people inside.

Webb then put it to him that Adam Wagner, a lawyer who’s an expert on lockdown rules, says the birthday celebration in the cabinet room was clearly against the rules.

Shapps did not contest that. He said the event was “unwise, I’m sure, given the circumstances as we know them”.

And Webb put it to him that he knew, in his “heart of hearts”, this was not defensible. Again, Shapps did not try very hard to disagree.

The prime minister has already been categorical. He’s said that he accepts everything that’s happened under his watch, that he takes ultimate responsibility, and that mistakes are made, a better way of putting it.

Other ministers giving interviews on partygate in recent weeks have struggled, but it is hard to recall anyone putting up the white flag quite so easily. If the person put up to defend No 10 won’t even try to defend it, the PM might be in even more trouble than he realised.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9.30am: Boris Johnson chairs cabinet.

10am: Dame Cressida Dick, commissioner of the Metropolitian police, is questioned by the London assembly’s police and crime committee.

10am: Lord Evans, chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, gives evidence to the Commons standards committee on the code of conduct for MPs.

11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.

11.30am: Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, takes questions in the Commons.

2pm: Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, gives a Covid statement to MSPs.

2.30pm: Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, gives evidence to the Commons defence committee on Afghanistan.

2.45pm: Ian Hislop, editor of Private Eye, and colleagues give evidence to the Commons standards committee about the code of conduct for MPs. At 3.30pm the MPs Jess Phillips and Sir Desmond Swayne will give evidence.

4pm: Sajid Javid, the health secretary, gives evidence to the Commons health committee.

I will be covering some UK Covid developments here, but for further coronavirus coverage, do read our global live blog.

I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.

If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

Alternatively, you can email me at andrew.sparrow@theguardian.com

Updated

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