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LAST UPDATE | 31 Jan 2022
GATHERINGS HELD IN Downing Street during Covid-19 restrictions showed “failures of leadership and judgement” by No 10 and the UK Cabinet Office, Sue Gray’s report has found.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has apologised in the House of Commons after the redacted Gray report on the “partygate” allegations of lockdown-busting gatherings was published this afternoon.
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”.
“There were failures of leadership and judgement by different parts of No 10 and the Cabinet Office at different times,” the report said.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Johnson told MPs: “Firstly, I want to say sorry – and I’m sorry for the things we simply didn’t get right and also sorry for the way this matter has been handled.”
“It’s no use saying this or that was within the rules and it’s no use saying people were working hard. This pandemic was hard for everyone,” he said.
Johnson said he “accepts Sue Gray’s general findings in full” and “above all her recommendation that we must learn from these events and act now”.
“First it is time to sort out what Sue Gray rightly calls the fragmented and complicated leadership structures of Downing Street which she says have not evolved sufficiently to meet the demands of the expansion of Number 10 and we will do that, including by creating an Office of the Prime Minister with a permanent secretary to lead Number 10.”
Gray report
In a statement, the Cabinet Office said Gray had provided an “update” on her investigation to the Prime Minister.
The document is a limited version of the report into No 10 and Whitehall parties during Covid-19 restrictions in the UK.
Gray said the Downing Street garden was “used for gatherings without clear authorisation or oversight” and “this was not appropriate”.
The report concluded: “The gatherings within the scope of this investigation are spread over a 20-month period – a period that has been unique in recent times in terms of the complexity and breadth of the demands on public servants and indeed the general public.
“The whole of the country rose to the challenge. Ministers, special advisers and the Civil Service, of which I am proud to be a part, were a key and dedicated part of that national effort.
“However, as I have noted, a number of these gatherings should not have been allowed to take place or to develop in the way that they did. There is significant learning to be drawn from these events which must be addressed immediately across Government. This does not need to wait for the police investigations to be concluded.”
Police are investigating the gathering in the Cabinet Room in No 10 on Boris Johnson’s birthday in 2020, Sue Gray’s update on her inquiry suggests, as well as gatherings on at least eight separate dates.
Scotland Yard last week asked Gray to make only “minimal reference” to gatherings being investigated by its officers.
Downing Street has so far refused to commit to publishing a fuller version of Gray’s findings once the police investigation has concluded.
The report reveals 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 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.
“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.”
Responding to Johnson in the House of Commons, Labour leader Keir Starmer called on him to publish Sue Gray’s report in full.
He said it is already clear that what she has disclosed so far is “the most damning conclusion possible”.
“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 breached the threshold for criminal investigation,” Starmer said.
He said British people believe Johnson should “do the decent thing and resign”.
Conservative former Prime Minister Theresa May said the public “had a right to expect their Prime Minister to have read the rules, to understand the meaning of the rules and indeed those around him to have done so too and to set an example in following those rules”.
“What the Gray report does show is that Number 10 Downing Street was not observing the regulations they had imposed on members of the public, so either my right honourable friend had not read the rules or didn’t understand what they meant and others around him, or they didn’t think the rules applied to Number 10. Which was it?” May asked.
Johnson replied: “No, Mr Speaker that is not what the Gray report says, I suggest that she waits to see the conclusion of the inquiry.”
Former Cabinet minister and Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell said the Prime Minister no longer has his support following the publication of Gray’s update.
He said Johnson had his “full-throated support” for 30 years but that “he no longer enjoys my support”.
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said the Sue Gray’s report was a “farce” with “no facts”.
During his speech, Blackford was repeatedly asked by Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle to withdraw the word “misled” after accusing Johnson of having “wilfully misled Parliament”.
Blackford told MPs: “So here we have it. The long-awaited Sue Gray report, what a farce. It was carefully engineered to be a fact-finding exercise, with no conclusions. Now we find it’s a fact-finding exercise with no facts.
“So let’s talk facts. The Prime Minister has told the House that all guidance was completely followed, there was no party, Covid rules were followed and that ‘I believed it was a work event’.
“Nobody, nobody believed it then. And nobody, nobody believes you now, Prime Minister. That is the crux – no ifs, no buts – he has wilfully misled Parliament.”
The speaker of the house asked SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford to confirm he had withdrawn claims that the Prime Minister had misled Parliament.
After back and forth between the two, the Speaker said: “Under the power given to me by standing order number 43 I order the honourable member to withdraw immediately from the House.”
Blackford walked out the chamber before the Speaker had finished, with the Speaker noting: “It’s all right, we don’t need to bother.”
The prime minister faced a demand from one of his backbenchers to publish the full Sue Gray report immediately.
Dr Julian Lewis said: “May I advise him publicly what I have said to emissaries from his campaign team privately: that it is truly in his interest, in the Government’s interest, and in the national interest that he should insist on receiving the full, unredacted report immediately, as I believe he can, and that he should then publish the uncensored version without any further delay?”
Johnson replied: “I think extensive legal advice has been taken on this point and Sue Gray has published everything that she thinks she can that is consistent with that advice.”
The Metropolitan Police has said officers are reviewing “at pace” more than 300 images and 500 pages of information handed over from the Cabinet Office.
“Having received the documentation from the Cabinet Office on Friday 28 January, we are now reviewing it at pace to confirm which individuals will need to be contacted for their account,” the Met said in a statement.
“If following an investigation officers believe it is appropriate, because the Covid regulations have been breached without a reasonable excuse, a fixed penalty notice would normally be issued,” it said.
“Once the penalty is paid, the matter is considered closed. Alternatively, individuals may decide to dispute the notice. In these circumstances officers will consider whether to pursue the matter in a magistrates’ court.
“We do understand that the Met’s action in assessing and responding to these allegations will divide opinion. However police officers must, based on the information available to them, make carefully considered, difficult decisions, even when to do so is contentious.”
No 10 has said Johnson will “consider asking Sue Gray to update her work in light of what is found” by the Metropolitan Police.
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I prefer mars to snickers. The past history of either is not really that important
A combination of factors Val. 4 billion years ago Mars was a much warmer place than today, as the planet had not cooled sufficiently since its formation. The interior of the planet at that time was similar to Earth’s today, i.e. a thin crust floating on a molten interior giving rise to volcanoes such as at Olympus Mons. The interior, as on Earth, is made primarily of iron, and in such instances where the core is molten, this iron creates a magnetic field (such as can be seen on Earth). The magnetic field protects the planet from solar radiation. This radiation breaks H2O molecules down into their respective parts – Oxygen and Hydrogen. With the cooling of the planet’s interior the magnetic field breaks down allowing the solar radiation in which then breaks down the H2O. The hydrogen is too light to remain on Mars’ surface (bear in mind Mars has only1/3 the gravity of Earth) and floats to the top of the atmosphere where, now that the magnetic field is gone, solar winds are allowed to tear the hydrogen away from the planet and carry it into space and ionising other particles which are also stripped away. As the atmosphere thins the planet cools even further. Any water that remains becomes locked in the rocks, any oxygen which remains ends up bound in CO2. The process is a relatively fast one. See this article from NASA on the process.
great comment
Global warming ;)
Deadly bit of news. Little bit disappointed by the artists image though. Surely Mars then wouldn’t have looked the same as now i.e. red and dusty, if it had an ocean would it? Surely it would have looked a little bit closer to our own planet. Raises serious questions about what happened there for an entire ocean to dry up also.
That would really depend on whether or not the ocean was there long enough for life to evolve. Our planet only looks like it does because of the plant life, if you look at the deserts you get an idea of how it would’ve looked if life didn’t happen. The only difference I’d put into the artists impression is a bit of cloud cover, maybe.
The view of the sky from the surface of Mars is blue, like Earth. NASA admitted that they touch those shots “for effect”.
the sky is only blue at sunrise and sunset
How I wish the human race could solve our problems here and explore inner and outer space together. The trillions spent on war could feed and clothe us all and used to expand our understanding of our home. The universe.
It will never happen, but still.
Who cares we should be looking after our own planet
Alan, we may need a new planet. Mars may become important in the same way as the USA was. Who says we must only live on one planet?
The fact that there was once water on Mars is old news. The mainstream news is only catching on now?
Read the first 2 lines of the article please.
It says that in the article, this is not news of water on the planet, it is news of the remnants of a particular ocean.
Ah crap, apologies folks. I read the article but the first couple of lines must have indeed escaped my attention! Whoops.
have your say