Sue Gray Partygate probe finds ‘failures of leadership’ in UK government

 

Sue Gray Partygate probe finds ‘failures of leadership’ in UK government

 

Boris Johnson says ‘sorry’ as long-awaited report into U.K. government parties amid coronavirus curbs lands.

 

Boris Johnson Visits Healthcare Centre In Somerset

BY ESTHER WEBBER AND MATT HONEYCOMBE-FOSTER

January 31, 2022 3:49 pm

https://www.politico.eu/article/sue-gray-report-partygate-boris-johnson-lockdown-party-coronavirus/

 

LONDON — An update from the official inquiry into claims of lockdown-busting parties in Boris Johnson’s administration has found “a serious failure” to observe the standards expected in government.

 

Sue Gray, a senior civil servant, was asked to look into a series of allegations that social gatherings were held in No. 10 Downing Street in breach of COVID-19 rules.

 

In her 12-page update — truncated while the Metropolitan Police separately investigates some of the allegations — Gray found there was “too little thought given to what was happening across the country” when considering whether some of the events should have gone ahead.

 

Johnson told his restive Conservative MPs Monday he was “sorry” — and vowed to learn lessons. But his Tory predecessor Theresa May was among those taking shots at the embattled prime minister.

 

Gray’s update arrives amid controversy after the Met Police — who were handed evidence found during Gray’s inquiry — called for “minimal reference” to allegations of gatherings it is currently investigating to be included in the report.

 

The senior official said the intervention of the Met meant she was now “extremely limited in what I can say about those events” and she conceded 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.”

 

But she made clear she did not want to “wait until the conclusion of the police investigation before publishing anything” given extensive public interest.

 

Gray took aim at “failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No 10 and the Cabinet Office at different times,” observing “some of the events should not have been allowed to take place” and others “should not have been allowed to develop as they did.”

 

She also criticized a drinking culture in parts of Whitehall, saying, “The excessive consumption of alcohol is not appropriate in a professional workplace at any time.”

 

Gray called for “significant learnings” to take place as a result of the scandal — and specified those do not need to wait for the outcome of the police probe.

 

While Gray made explicit the limits of Monday’s report, the ongoing inquiry police inquiry could yet prove damaging for the prime minister.

 

Of 16 parties examined by Gray, only four did not meet the threshold for criminal investigation.

 

One of the events being investigated by the police took place in the Downing Street flat, the home of the prime minister and his wife Carrie, on the day his former chief adviser Dominic Cummings was sacked.

 

Johnson: ‘I get it and I will fix it’

Responding to the inquiry in the House of Commons Monday, Johnson apologized and said he accepted the need for change as a result of Gray’s findings. Some of his most senior MPs quickly signaled that won’t be enough.

 

Johnson announced the creation of an “office of the prime minister” and promised other improvements to the way No. 10 and the Cabinet Office are run.

 

“I get it and I will fix it,” he insisted.

 

But the PM faced shouts of “resign” from opposition MPs as he told the Commons: “We asked people across this country to make the most extraordinary sacrifices — not to meet loved ones, not to visit relatives before they died, and I understand the anger that people feel.”

 

If 54 of Johnson’s MP colleagues write a letter to party bosses, it will trigger a confidence vote on his leadership of the Tories.

 

In a highly-charged Commons intervention, May, Johnson’s immediate predecessor in No.10, said coronavirus regulations had placed severe curbs on the public who “had a right to expect their prime minister to have read the rules, understand the meaning of the rules and to set an example by following those rules.”

 

“What the Gray report does show is that No. 10 Downing Street was not observing the regulations they had imposed on members of the public,” she added.

 

And veteran Conservative Andrew Mitchell, a former Cabinet minister who has previously supported Johnson, said he could no longer back the prime minister. “I’m deeply concerned by these events and very concerned indeed by some of the things he has said from that despatch box, and has said to the British public and our constituents,” Mitchell said.

 

Aaron Bell, a Tory MP not among the handful to have publicly called for Johnson to resign, recalled attending the funeral of his grandmother in May 2020 and being unable to hug his family or attend a reception afterward due to lockdown restrictions.

 

“Does the prime minister think I’m a fool?” Bell asked.

 

Ian Blackford, the leader of the Scottish National Party at Westminster, was even kicked out of the Commons chamber after refusing to withdraw an assertion that Johnson had misled parliament. Under British parliamentary rules, MPs are not allowed to accuse one another of lying.

 

Opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer renewed his calls for Johnson to resign, branding the PM a “man without shame” and saying he had “insulted the public’s intelligence” in his response to the claims.

 

‘This can only get worse’

A former minister, who claimed not to have yet submitted a letter of no-confidence, said the report’s findings were not helpful for No.10.

 

“It’s quite difficult to find a positive in this [for the PM]. I guess they were hoping [Gray] would be a lot more helpful and it is difficult to read it in that context,” they added. “My feeling is that this can only get worse from here.”

 

A normally loyal Conservative MP said the report offered no reprieve for Johnson. “There’s a police investigation into activities at No. 10, for god’s sake. How has it come to this?”

 

Annabelle Dickson contributed reporting. This story has been updated to include reaction and reporting on Johnson’s Commons statement.