Good morning. Once again, Westminster has been waiting for the Sue Gray report. But whereas last time Gray was the senior official reaching her view of Downing Street lockdown parties, this time she is not the author, but the subject, under scrutiny for leaving her civil service job to join Labour as Keir Starmer’s chief of staff.
Yesterday, after a day of just the sort of hanging about that became synonymous with her name last year, and a torrent of briefing that she had been found to have broken the civil service code, a ministerial statement finally arrived shortly before 6pm. And, after all that, it had almost nothing to say.
But not quite nothing. Oliver Dowden’s statement explained that Gray had refused to participate in the Cabinet Office inquiry, which led to another round of uncomfortable headlines this morning. Perhaps more significant, though, was the obvious question: why, when a report had been so thoroughly trailed, did it not contain what everyone had been told to expect? Pippa Crerar, the Guardian’s political editor, knows the answer, and in today’s newsletter, she takes us through it – and what else you need to know about this complicated story.
Also: you replied in your numberless hordes to yesterday’s invitation to prove your appetite for a squirrel video by recommending First Edition to a friend. (“Just hoping to get a glimpse of your squirrel,” one said.) We’ve upheld our end of the bargain, and you’ll find an Upside squirrel special at the end of today’s email. Let me also clear up what appears to have been a point of confusion for some: I do not have a pet squirrel. Here are the headlines.
Five big stories
Coronation | Official warning letters have been sent to anti-monarchists planning peaceful protests at King Charles III’s coronation saying that new criminal offences to prevent disruption have been rushed into law. Meanwhile, a man was arrested after throwing items suspected of being shotgun cartridges into the grounds of Buckingham Palace.
UK news | A nurse accused of murdering seven babies wept as she told a court her “whole world was stopped” when she was accused of the “sickening” crimes. Lucy Letby denied harming any child and added: “I only ever did my best to care for them.”
Strikes | The NHS staff council, a body that represents more than a million NHS staff in England, has voted to accept a pay deal covering both 2022-23 and 2023-24. While unions representing a majority of staff voted to accept the offer, others including the Royal College of Nursing indicated that they plan to continue striking for a better deal.
Ukraine | Eight new Ukrainian brigades of soldiers, comprising 40,000 troops, have been formed to take part in a future counteroffensive, the country’s interior ministry said yesterday. But there is growing concern that the pool of Ukrainians willing to fight is diminishing as the war reaches the 15-month mark.
E-bikes | Fires sparked by faulty e-bikes and e-scooters have injured at least 190 people in the UK and killed eight, the Guardian can reveal, as a surge in public enthusiasm for battery-assisted travel is matched by a more than quadrupling in blazes since 2020. Experts warned riders against buying batteries in less regulated online marketplaces, particularly from China.
In depth: ‘There’s no precedent for this sort of investigation’
***
What is the controversy about?
In March, Keir Starmer pulled a rabbit out of the hat: Sue Gray, the civil servant who led the initial inquiry into Partygate, would be joining Labour as his new chief of staff. That was seen as a coup for Starmer, with Gray’s long experience of government presented as an important way to help Labour prepare for office. But it had a price.
“Someone who has been right at the heart of government would be incredibly useful,” Pippa said. “But there are some in Labour who think it was mad to go for somebody so controversial – whose appointment is basically trolling Boris Johnson’s supporters.”
It was particularly surprising because Gray – who has maintained a gnomic public silence – was said to have been bruised by the Partygate affair. As Rajeev Syal reported in December: “She is now happy to be away from the limelight.” Aubrey Allegretti has a useful primer on her career to date.
Conservatives were incandescent at the appointment, claiming that Gray failed in her duty to inform civil service bosses that she was holding talks with Labour about a job.
Some even say that her new role calls into question the integrity of her Partygate investigation – although no evidence has been produced that she was in touch with Starmer and his team at the time; the allegation is that she was in talks later, when working with the Cabinet Office’s propriety and ethics team.
Still, said Pippa, “the disquiet was not just among aggrieved supporters of Boris Johnson. There are genuine concerns about having a revolving door between the civil service and political parties: she wasn’t the first, and she won’t be the last.”
As a result of all this, two separate investigations of Gray’s departure were arranged: an internal Cabinet Office inquiry, and another by the advisory committee on business appointments (Acoba).
***
What’s the difference between the inquiries?
Yesterday’s update was on the Cabinet Office inquiry; there is no date for when Acoba will reach its conclusion.
Acoba is the body with responsibility for assessing new jobs for senior civil servants, as well as former ministers, and has the power to suggest a cooling-off period of between three months and two years if there are concerns about any conflict of interest. Nobody disputes that it should have a say over Gray’s appointment.
But the Cabinet Office inquiry was less conventional, and more controversial. “There’s no precedent for this sort of investigation for someone who’s already left the civil service,” Pippa said. “And there are senior civil servants who were concerned about such a politically charged report being released just before the local elections.”
Nonetheless, detailed briefing that the Cabinet Office had concluded that “Sue Gray held secret talks with [Starmer] while working for the team advising the Commons partygate investigation” appeared in advance. And yet the actual update from Oliver Dowden said nothing of the kind, but noted that Gray had declined to participate and said that there was an obligation “to maintain confidentiality towards an individual former employee”.
***
Why was the update so limited?
Dowden implied that Gray’s non-cooperation was the cause, but that would have already been true when friendly newspapers were briefed on the report’s contents – and Gray’s defenders insist she is cooperating fully with Acoba, because that is the proper body to deal with her case.
In an illuminating story published last night, Pippa suggests another factor. She reports that while ministers had wanted the report to be made public, civil service head Simon Case had initially agreed but then changed his mind, leading to 24 hours of intense negotiations. “He started to become uncomfortable about the implications of publicly discussing the confidential details of a former employee outside of the normal process,” Pippa said. Last night, former Acoba chief Lady Browning suggested on Newsnight that the explanation was: “We realise that we were the employer of Sue Gray, and we have employment law responsibilities.”
Some have speculated that Case may be especially wary because of pressure on his own position recently – amid persistent questions over his ability to lead a demoralised civil service in the aftermath of the Dominic Raab bullying affair, “unprofessional” WhatsApp messages sent by Case himself, and his role in the saga over a perceived conflict of interest that led to the resignation of BBC chair Richard Sharp.
No 10 backed him yesterday. But Rowena Mason’s analysis features a former permanent secretary who says: “The common thread is that his advice does not appear to be robust enough.”
Case is also reported to have clashed with Gray during the Partygate investigation. Given all that, it may be that Case feared that any conclusion against Gray would muddy the waters. Enemies of Gray’s might reflect that at least the details of the Cabinet Office’s view are in the public domain because of the advanced leaks, even if nobody is saying any of it on the record.
***
So should Gray and Starmer be celebrating?
That would be very premature. Even if they have not been publicised, the Cabinet Office has made its submissions to Acoba on the case. There is still every chance that Acoba will conclude that Gray should serve a period of gardening leave; while it has no power to enforce its advice, Labour has said it will abide by it. All that was avoided yesterday was a painful political problem in advance of vital local elections.
“Labour would really like her to be available to help them with the possible transition as soon as possible,” Pippa said. “She would still be valuable in the early days of a new government – but there is the question of whether she is really going to be willing to sit around unpaid for a year. She may feel she wants to go and do other things.”
While there are legitimate questions about the perception of a conflict of interest, there is also quite a lot of chaff flying around. Gray has not worked in a sensitive role for five years; voices like the Tory source who told the Telegraph that “it seems that Boris Johnson was stitched up by a long running and multilayered plot” should be taken with a pinch of salt, Pippa said.
“Johnson’s troubles were caused by findings of fact which he did not dispute, not Gray’s interpretation. He said her report vindicated him. And she was clearly cautious in how she went about it.”
Starmer has suggested that voters are more interested in the state of the economy. But it is also true that the Conservatives have already had some success in casting the story as evidence against Starmer’s image as a stickler for the rules. Even if he is ultimately able to appoint Gray, if he finds himself facing a new and more plausible attack line from Rishi Sunak in the meantime, he may wonder whether it was worth the political cost.
What else we’ve been reading
Emine Saner’s interview with Busted’s Matt Willis (above) shines a light on the constant instability addiction can cause, with Willis candidly talking about his long struggle with drugs and alcohol. Nimo
A year into the inquiry over the Post Office scandal, “not a single person has been held to legal account”, Marina Hyde writes – and our attention is elsewhere. “You have to wonder whether the Post Office story is somehow not sexy enough for much of a chatterati who prefer their scandals to unfold over a feverish day on Elon Musk’s platform, and not in unloved inquiry rooms.” Archie
Murders of police officers get a 30-year tariff; murders with knives begin at 25 years, and “Normal murders” at 14. But most murders of women by their partners fall below that category, and their perpetrators may serve far less time in prison than a judge sentences them to at trial. Anna Moore’s piece, focusing on the case of Joanna Simpson, is a searching examination of why that is. Archie
The death of Cash App founder Bob Lee was initially speculated to be a random act of violence, shifting focus to crime, homelessness and drug use in San Fransciso. In the weeks since, further details have revealed that the story is more complicated than it first appeared. Kari Paul has written a comprehensive timeline on what we know so far. Nimo
Investigative journalist Heidi Blake’s piece for the New Yorker about the fugitive princesses of Dubai is a gripping (and frequently jawdropping) account of an appalling story – one that unfolded with the apparent complicity of the British establishment. Archie
Sport
Premier league | Arsenal went top with a 3-1 victory over Chelsea at the Emirates, with two goals from Martin Ødegaard (above) and one from Gabriel Jesus before Noni Madueke pulled one back in the second half. Barney Ronay wrote that “Chelsea had a basic creepiness about them, sport without play or joy or energy, sport as something unheimlich, eerie, undead”.
Women’s World Cup | Fifa president Gianni Infantino has warned that there could be a TV blackout of this summer’s Women’s World Cup in Europe unless broadcasters improve on their “unacceptable” offers for the rights. Infantino described the offers as a “slap in the face” to the players and “all women worldwide” because they were so low when compared with the men’s tournament.
Chess | Sean Ingle spoke with Ding Liren, China’s first men’s chess world champion, the day after he defeated Russian player Ian Nepomniachtchi. Ingle delves into their epic match and examines the inner workings of the world of the game.
The front pages
“New anti-protest powers rushed into law in time for coronation” says our Guardian splash headline this morning. The Sun has “Palace shotgun terror” after a man threw three cartridges into the grounds and police blew them up. “Man held in shotgun cartridges drama at the palace” says the Daily Mail, and the Daily Express goes with “Lockdown at palace after man arrested”. “Palace in lockdown after ‘attack’” – that’s the Daily Mirror.
In other news, the Metro reports from the Lucy Letby trial: “‘Killer nurse’ weeps in court”. The i’s lead is “Gray refuses to help inquiry over Starmer job – sparking Tory anger”. Quite a lot of Tory anger being sparked lately. The Times splashes with “Cold calling ban to fight financial fraudsters”; the Daily Telegraph presents that story as “Spies take the fight to text scammers”. Top story in the Financial Times today is “AI claims first scalp as shares in education sector tumble”.
Today in Focus
Cost of the crown part 3: the hidden history of the monarchy and slavery
Documents recently unearthed by historians have shown how the British royal family had ties to transatlantic slavery. Maeve McClenaghan reports
Cartoon of the day | Steve Bell
The Upside: Squirrel special
A bit of good news, about a squirrel, to remind you that the world’s not all bad
Yesterday I promised that if enough people replied to say they had recommended the newsletter to a friend I’d provide a full report and, crucially, a gif of my rollercoaster encounter with the squirrel that took up residence in my kitchen over the bank holiday. Loads of you duly did so, and they have secured a squirrel anecdote for everyone else. (Thanks to Graeme Parsons, who rightly pointed out that when I said viral marketing, I meant feral marketing.)
It went like this. We heard an astonishingly loud scratching sound coming from the kitchen. I approached to investigate, and saw two small paws poking over a gap in the skirting board, followed by … a nose. We both froze, at an impasse. Then the paw reached out frantically like it was grasping for a lifebuoy, and I freaked out and swore a lot. (In my defence, I initially thought it was an unusually flexible rat. The mind plays tricks.) The animal retreated.
God knows how it got there, but on reviewing the footage, we concluded that it was probably a squirrel. I thought on my feet, and laid a trail of brazil nut crumbs leading to the back garden (having noted online advice that “if squirrels eat too many brazil nuts they can become kind of drunk” but concluding that the squirrel deserved a treat.) I removed the skirting board, and set up a CCTV station (phone on the floor set to record, tbh).
Round one: squirrel emerged. Ignored the nuts, but strolled brazenly past the camera. Checking the footage, I assumed he had made its escape, and celebrated with the dog in the living room. Unfortunately, the squirrel was actually hiding under a chest of drawers, leaped out in terror, and found himself in the jaws of the dog. This is the first time the dog has ever caught anything in his life. I prised the squirrel out. He retreated to his spot under the oven. I frowned, and set up a second camera to monitor the extraction zone.
Round two: squirrel emerged again, apparently unscathed. This time, the furniture and assorted living room detritus had been rearranged to channel him towards the exit. He made his way, with some caution, but unimpeded. Camera two captured him escaping into the wilderness beyond.
End of squirrel story. An extract from the footage, which is what you’re really here for, is here. A final NB: squirrels are actually monsters.
Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday
Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day – with plenty more on the Guardian’s Puzzles app for iOS and Android. Until tomorrow.
