Parts of the long-awaited report by senior civil servant Sue Gray into the alleged lockdown-busting parties in No 10 and Whitehall have finally been made public.
While the document could be pivotal for the Prime Minister’s leadership and has been scrutinised by legal and human resources officials before publication, parts of it are being withheld while the Metropolitan Police investigate some of the allegations covered.
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Sue Gray found that “at least some of the gatherings” she investigated represent “a serious failure to observe not just the high standards expected of those working at the heart of Government but also of the standards expected of the entire British population at the time”.
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Sue Gray’s redacted report on the “partygate” allegations of lockdown-busting gatherings in No 10 and Whitehall has been published.
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Boris Johnson will address a meeting of the whole Conservative parliamentary party at 6.30pm, a senior Tory MP has said.
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A former communications director to Boris Johnson said limited publication of the Sue Gray inquiry is “bad for democracy” but “good for the PM”.
Will Walden, who advised him during his time as London mayor, told BBC Radio 4’s The World At One programme: “It’s a mess. It’s probably bad for democracy but inadvertently good for the PM.
“He’s used up quite a lot of lives over this but I think it’s landed pretty well for him.
“I think he has the benefit of seeing what appears to be a heavily redacted report, he doesn’t have long to respond but he’s responding to frankly what is going to be not a lot. And I suspect that can only help him.”
12.32pm
Boris Johnson spoke briefly with Sue Gray on Sunday ahead of the delivery of her report on lockdown parties, Downing Street has said.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “I don’t believe they spoke this morning. My understanding is they spoke briefly yesterday.
“I think they briefly discussed the findings. I don’t know exactly what they discussed.”
Asked if the Prime Minister was grateful for Ms Gray’s work, the spokesman said: “Yes, he commissioned this work she carried out.”
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Downing Street said it will publish the Gray report in the full form it has received from the inquiry team, but did not commit to publish a fuller version in the future.
Asked why the release has so far been characterised as an “update”, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “It’s a reflection of the fact there is an ongoing police investigation and the Met have been clear about what their expectations are about what can or cannot be put in the public domain while that’s ongoing.”
Asked whether Sue Gray will seek to publish more in the future, he said: “Obviously we will need to consider what might be appropriate and we are discussing with the Cabinet Office team in due course about what might be appropriate, but at the moment it is unclear how the ongoing Met Police investigation might interact with any further work on that. But obviously it’s something we will want to keep under review.”
Pressed on whether the public will see a fuller report after the Met investigation, the spokesman said: “That’s one of the things I can’t confirm at this point simply because we need to discuss that with the Met and others about what is suitable.”
But questioned on whether the report will be published in the manner it was received from the inquiry team, he confirmed: “We will publish it as received.”
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The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We can confirm that Sue Gray has provided an update to the Prime Minister.
“The findings will be published on gov.uk and made available in the House of Commons library this afternoon and the Prime Minister will then provide a statement to the House after people have had the opportunity to read and consider the findings.”
He expected the Prime Minister’s statement to be made around 3.30pm.
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Downing Street said it will publish Sue Gray’s report on Monday afternoon in the full form it has received from the inquiry team, but did not commit to publish a fuller version in future.
