A redacted version of Sue Gray's report into the string of lockdown-flouting gatherings held at No 10 and Whitehall has been published.
The findings, published online on Monday, identify a “serious failure” to observe the high standards expected of those working at the heart of Government.
Last Tuesday, the Metropolitan Police confirmed it has launched a criminal investigation into the alleged parties which appeared to break Covid-19 rules during the pandemic.
After requesting that the Sue Gray report made "minimal" reference to the events the police were investigating, the report was published on Monday and the Prime Minister will now face his fellow MPs to fight to save his premiership.
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Criticism of Boris Johnson about his involvement in these alleged get-togethers is growing with calls on both sides of the House for him to resign.
In a carefully-crafted statement, the Cabinet Office said Ms Gray had provided an “update” on her investigation to the Prime Minister, suggesting it was not the full report she intended to publish before the Metropolitan Police intervened.
Downing Street has so far refused to commit to publishing a fuller version of Ms Gray’s findings once the police investigation has concluded.
The version of Ms Gray’s report published on Monday said “it seems there was too little thought given to what was happening across the country in considering the appropriateness of some of these gatherings, the risks they presented to public health and how they might appear to the public”.
And that Downing Street garden was used for gatherings “without clear authorisation or oversight” in a way that was “not appropriate”.
The report also reveals that 12 events are being investigated by the police, including a gathering in the Downing Street flat and an event to mark Boris Johnson’s birthday in June 2020.
While Ms Gray makes some broad findings about “failures of leadership and judgment” in parts of No 10 and the Cabinet Office, her report makes clear that the police investigation prevented more substantial findings being presented.
She wrote: “As a result of the Metropolitan Police’s investigations, and so as not to prejudice the police investigative process, they have told me that it would only be appropriate to make minimal reference to the gatherings on the dates they are investigating.
“Unfortunately, this necessarily means that I am extremely limited in what I can say about those events and it is not possible at present to provide a meaningful report setting out and analysing the extensive factual information I have been able to gather.”
According to Dan Bloom from the Mirror , Downing Street revealed Boris Johnson and Sue Gray “spoke briefly yesterday” - long before the report was officially handed over on Monday morning.
Asked why the release has so far been categorised 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.”
A former communications director to Boris Johnson, Will Walden, said limited publication of the Sue Gray inquiry is “bad for democracy” but “good for the PM”.
He added: “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.”
While Green Party MP Caroline Lucas has called the findings of Sue Gray's report 'utterly damning' even despite parts of it being redacted due to ongoing investigations by the Met Police.
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