CABINET minister Nadhim Zahawi has repeatedly failed to say who called a controversial meeting between Boris Johnson and Sue Gray over the partygate report.
Speaking to Sky News on Sunday morning, the UK Government's Education Secretary, conceded he did not know the answer.
It is understood that Gray and Johnson met at least once to give an update on the document’s progress while it was being drafted, but a Whitehall source said that its contents were not discussed at any point. The exact nature of the talks remains unclear.
Zahawi insisted the Prime Minister has “never intervened” in the senior civil servant’s investigation and Gray’s integrity is “unquestionable”.
He told Sky News: “All I can say to you is the meeting that took place between Sue Gray and the Prime Minister – I can’t tell you who called the meeting.”
He later added: “I don’t know who called the meeting.” Asked what was discussed, he also said: “I don’t know.”
Asked if he could not say who called the meeting because he did not ask No 10, or because it did not tell him, Zahawi said: “(I’ll) tell you what the answer is, the answer is very simple.
“The answer is the Prime Minister will never intervene in Sue Gray’s investigation. The Prime Minister wants Sue Gray to basically go wherever the evidence takes her.”
The minister was then asked how he could be sure Johnson did not intervene in the inquiry if he did not know what was discussed in a meeting between the pair.
He said in response: “Because I know the Prime Minister has been determined from day one, and he shared that with me, with other ministers and of course the country, that he would have Sue Gray conduct her report independently, he would never intervene or in any way try and influence that report.
“That is what Sue Gray has done and will publish. And then the Prime Minister will respond to it afterwards.”
Asked what reason the PM might have for meeting Gray prior to the publication of the report, he said: “If a meeting’s gone in the diary for Sue Gray and the Prime Minister to meet, I guarantee you it’s not because the Prime Minister wants to influence the report.”
On Saturday, the BBC reported that the discussions touched on whether photos would be revealed to the public, and that Gray initiated the meeting “to clarify her intentions” for what would happen once the police investigation concluded.
But a spokesman for the Gray inquiry disputed this account of events.
They confirmed that a meeting took place, but said they would not characterise the talks in that way.
A No 10 source insisted the request for the meeting did not come from Johnson.
“The PM did not request the meeting and hasn’t tried to influence the outcome in any way,” they said.
“It’s rightly for Sue to decide and it’s all done independently.”
Responding to the reports, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said the situation characterises the whole Westminster government approach.
"So an 'independent' report, yet Number 10 calls in the author, for, let us call it a friendly chat, oh really!
"This sums up Johnson's Govt, sleekit and underhand.
"Johnson and Number 10 should never have gone anywhere near Gray until the report was published."
It comes as about 30 people, including Johnson, are being contacted by the Cabinet Office to warn them of the contents of the document ahead of its publication.
