Someone was sick as 'excessive amounts' of alcohol were consumed during a gathering in Whitehall during lockdown, the Sue Gray report says. There was also a 'minor altercation' between two other people at the same event which was split into two parts.
The incidents happened during a gathering that lasted for a 'number of hours' with the last member of staff leaving at 3.13am, the report says. It was a two-part event that began on June 18, 2020 in the Cabinet Office at 70 Whitehall.
The report published today looked at the gathering to mark the departure of a No. 10 official when England was in step two restrictions and gatherings of two or more people inside were banned unless 'reasonably necessary... for work purposes."
The first part of the event took place in the Cabinet Office involving formal leaving speeches and some alcohol. This lasted approximately for up to an hour. The second part took place in 70 Whitehall in the Cabinet Secretary's rooms with alcohol, food and music.
The report says of the second part of the gathering: "The event lasted for a number of hours. There was excessive alcohol consumption by some individuals. One individual was sick. There was a minor altercation between two other individuals.
"The event broke up in stages with a few members of staff leaving from around21.00 and the last member of staff, who stayed to tidy up, leaving at 03.13."
Sue Gray said she learned of multiple examples of “unacceptable” treatment of security and cleaning staff during her partygate investigation. She wrote: “I found that some staff had witnessed or been subjected to behaviours at work which they had felt concerned about but at times felt unable to raise properly.
“I was made aware of multiple examples of a lack of respect and poor treatment of security and cleaning staff. This was unacceptable.”
