Laura Kuenssberg
Political editor BBC
Sue Gray’s initial report might be short on detail. But what she makes perfectly clear is that even the bare bones of what went on in Downing Street and the Cabinet Office during lockdown were unacceptable in her view.
In Whitehall speak, to say there were “serious failures” in leadership is near-condemnation.
Ms Gray reveals that three new gatherings took place that weeks of reporting have not previously uncovered – and she confirms that a dozen of them are being investigated by the police.
Most risky for No 10, we can now be sure that three events the police are looking into were ones Boris Johnson himself attended.
- No 10 parties shouldn’t have been allowed – Sue Gray
- Sue Gray party report: What are the findings?
There’s an investigation, too, into what happened not just in the government buildings, which are a warren of multiple rooms, but a gathering in the private flat above the shop.
What’s also fascinating is that Ms Gray repeatedly makes the point that what went wrong matters not just because it was ill-advised in the office, but because the public were being asked to make their own sacrifices during this period.
That’s why all of this has concerned so many members of the public. That’s why so many Tory MPs have been angered by what went on.
By Ms Gray’s counting – after interviewing more than 70 people – on 16 occasions, some of those who worked at the heart of government did not obey those rules.
Forget all the process around what and when the report would be published, the back-and-forth with the Met, the claims and denials.
This is an official verdict that Downing Street will try to move on from, but not all of the public, not all of his MPs, may be able to forgive.
Helen Catt, a BBC political correspondent, said: “As expected, lots of opposition MPs are asking repeated questions about the gathering in the No 10 flat in November 2020.
Why? Well, partly because it is his home but also because of an answer he gave at Prime Minister’s Questions in December last year.
He was asked if there had been a party in Downing Street on 13 November and he said “no”.
So some MPs are questioning if that meant he misled parliament, which would be a serious offence (and if done deliberately, something he’d be expected to resign for).
Boris Johnson though has said he stands by what he said then and says everyone needs to wait for the outcome of the police investigation.
Meanwhile, Green Party MP Caroline Lucas has criticised the Met Police, which she accuses of “incompetence” and blames for a “report that’s been gutted”.
She says we “didn’t need Sue Gray to tell us about the level of dishonour” within the government.
“It’s been excruciating to watch so many Tory MPs willing to defend the indefensible,” she says.
“The prime minister is certainly a bad apple, but the whole tree is rotten and the whole country wants reform.”
Conservative MP Steve Baker made an emotional contribution
Returning to the House of Commons now, Conservative MP Steve Baker made an emotional contribution a few minutes ago, saying millions of people took seriously government communications campaigns “to bully, to shame and to terrify them into compliance with minute restrictions on their freedom”.
He asked what the prime minister’s message was to “those people who meticulously complied with all of the rules and suffered terribly for it”, including people whose mental health would have suffered “appallingly” as a result.
In response, Johnson thanked those people “for everything they did”, saying they helped to control Covid.
LibDem Alex Cole Hamilton and report author Sue Gray.
Responding to the publication of a redacted version of the Sue Gray report, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “Boris Johnson has deliberately lied to parliament and to the British public. He and his staff are under criminal investigation for a series of breaches of their own rules. He is not fit for office.
“Families said their last goodbyes via Zoom, welcomed new babies via FaceTime, went months without hugging their elderly relatives in care homes. No apology can ever fix this.
“Every minute Boris Johnson remains Prime Minister is an insult to all those who lost a loved one during this pandemic and strictly adhered to the rules. If he has a shred of dignity and love for the UK, he must resign.”
The Blackford/Boris clash went like this:
Sir Keith Starmer, leader of the Labour Party, told the Commons:
I would like to thank Sue Gray for the diligence and professionalism with which she has carried out her work. It is no fault of hers that she has only been able to produce an update today, not the full report.
The Prime Minister repeatedly assured the House that the guidance was followed and the rules were followed. But we now know that 12 cases have reached the threshold of criminal investigation, which I remind the House means that there is evidence of serious and flagrant breaches of lockdown, including the party on 20 May 2020, which we know the Prime Minister attended, and the party on 13 November 2020 in the Prime Minister’s flat. There can be no doubt that the Prime Minister himself is now subject to criminal investigation.
The Prime Minister must keep his promise to publish Sue Gray’s report in full when it is available. But it is already clear that the report discloses the most damning conclusion possible. Over the last two years, the British public have been asked to make the most heart-wrenching sacrifices—a collective trauma endured by all, enjoyed by none. Funerals have been missed, dying relatives have been unvisited. Every family has been marred by what we have been through. And revelations about the Prime Minister’s behaviour have forced us all to rethink and relive those darkest moments. Many have been overcome by rage, by grief and even by guilt. Guilt that because they stuck to the law, they did not see their parents one last time. Guilt that because they did not bend the rules, their children went months without seeing friends. Guilt that because they did as they were asked, they did not go and visit lonely relatives.
But people should not feel guilty. They should feel pride in themselves and their country, because by abiding by those rules they have saved the lives of people they will probably never meet. They have shown the deep public spirit and the love and respect for others that has always characterised this nation at its best.
Our national story about covid is one of a people who stood up when they were tested, but that will be forever tainted by the behaviour of this Conservative Prime Minister. By routinely breaking the rules he set, the Prime Minister took us all for fools. He held people’s sacrifice in contempt. He showed himself unfit for office.
The Prime Minister’s desperate denials since he was exposed have only made matters worse. Rather than come clean, every step of the way, he has insulted the public’s intelligence. Now he has finally fallen back on his usual excuse: it is everybody’s fault but his. They go; he stays. Even now, he is hiding behind a police investigation into criminality in his home and his office.
The Prime Minister gleefully treats what should be a mark of shame as a welcome shield, but the British public are not fools. They never believed a word of it. They think that the Prime Minister should do the decent thing and resign. Of course, he will not, because he is a man without shame. Just as he has done throughout the life, he has damaged everyone and everything around him along the way. His colleagues have spent weeks defending the indefensible, touring the TV studios, parroting his absurd denials, degrading themselves and their offices, fraying the bond of trust between the Government—[Interruption.]
They died alone whilst loved ones could not say goodbye. They were buried alone due to loved ones not being allowed to attend the funeral. And what did Boris and the Tories do during this – they partied, drank booze, and even had a DJ for music and dancing in number ten.
And yesterday, the Prime Minister who is still in office, laughed and sneered in the House of Commons whilst his Tory chums cheered.
Two fingers to all the poor suckers. And as is now perfectly clear there’s nothing ordinary people can do. No rule of law, no democracy.
And then Iain Blackford MP yesterday gets thrown out of the parliament for saying Johnson misled parliament – and incredibly, the rest of the SNP sat there in the chamber unwilling to compromise their pay and perks walking out in support of their ejected colleague.