Sue Grey Report Download: When and where will Sue Gray’s report be available? Sue Gray sent a report to Whitehall and Downing Street concerning lockdown-busting parties. The study Harshly criticizes the culture at No. 10 for causing frequent violations of Covid restrictions in 2020 and 2021. Nine photos of Prime Minister David Cameron, Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak were also handed to No.10 in connection with the party game.
Johnson will deliver a statement to the House of Commons on Wednesday, which will be issued later that day. It is currently accessible on the Cabinet Office website. This location has a copy of the document on hand. It can be downloaded from a computer or a mobile device. In the meantime, Operation Hillman, the Metropolitan Police’s investigation into party gate, was underway. On May 19, the inquiry was concluded, and 126 fines were issued to 83 people. Johnson received a letter on his 56th birthday alerting him of the investigation’s conclusions and informing him that he will face no further prosecution in connection with earlier gatherings.
Two more photographs circulated earlier this week, purporting to show separate parties at Downing Street. An image showing Johnson’s former official spokesperson James Slack at a table with nine bottles of wine and prosecco was purportedly taken at a party to honor the final press briefing on November 17, 2020, according to a report in The Mirror. The BBC ran a Panorama report on Tuesday night under the coronavirus restrictions that featured three anonymous persons who recounted in great detail what they saw during frequent rule-breaking activities. They claimed that activities were held “every week,” and that “Wine-Time Friday” was on the calendar.
What is in Sue Gray’s Partygate Report?
Sue Gray’s long-awaited research on Downing Street gatherings during the pandemic has now been released. She claims that “failures of leadership and judgment in No. 10 and the Cabinet Office must be held accountable” by the center’s senior leadership, both political and formal. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan wrote to the acting head of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Stephen House, to clarify the force’s actions on party game after photographs emerged showing Boris Johnson drinking at a party for which he was not disciplined.
Is there anything in the Gray report that should cause concern?
During the epidemic, media reports of regular gatherings at or near Downing Street, where the prime minister lives and works, triggered an internal investigation. Sue Gray, a senior government official, was asked to look into the events, including who was there and whether they were in breach of Covid rules. Ms. Gray submitted an early report at the end of January, but she withheld publication of the entire document until the Metropolitan Police had concluded their investigations into particular occurrences. According to these images, the Covid guidelines were broken during the Downing Street celebration.
- What did Boris Johnson have to say about parties in Parliament?
- Which parties on Downing Street have resulted in fines?
- How were the perpetrators of Partygate sanctioned by the police?
What will be the conclusion of today’s findings?
Ms. Gray recounts 16 instances that occurred between May 2020 and April 2021 and fell within her jurisdiction. The police looked into a total of twelve of these cases. “Several gatherings and their evolution,” she recalls, “did not comply with Covid guidance at the time.” The police investigation resulted in fines for 83 people who attended the parties, including the prime minister and the chancellor of the exchequer. “The public has a right to expect the highest standards of behavior in such venues,” Ms. Gray says, “and clearly, what occurred fell well short of this.”
What new information has become available?
According to WhatsApp discussions between Downing Street officials, several of the events were planned ahead of time, despite worries about whether they were permitted or how they would be seen. A senior federal official, Martin Reynolds, has invited his coworkers to a “socially isolated garden party” on May 20, 2020. “In the current environment, a 200-odd person invitation for drinks in number 10’s garden is somewhat of a comms risk,” Lee Cain, then No 10’s director of communications, said. Mr. Reynolds highlighted the issue again in a later communication, noting that “we seem to have gotten away with” it.
According to the study, junior government officers were persuaded that their participation in these gatherings was legitimate because senior civil servants and political advisors were there. Multiple examples of an “awful lack of respect and dreadful treatment of security and cleaning workers” were discovered, and some employees had “witnessed or been subjected to behaviors at work that they had been concerned about but at times felt unable to raise effectively.” The report also includes a few photos of the prime minister taken during some of the events covered in its scope.
According to the report, “pizza and prosecco” as well as a karaoke machine were part of a leaving party at No 10 on June 17 of that year. During the event, two persons had an “altercation” that lasted until 3:00 p.m., when one of the participants felt unwell. Ms. Gray claims she only had a limited amount of information when the police confirmed they were investigating an incident at the No. 10 flat on November 13, 2020. In her report, she calls it “disappointing” that “some instances only became known to me and my staff through media reportage.”
What has everyone’s reaction been so far?
Following the publication of the report, Prime Minister David Cameron denied to MPs that he deceived them about the nature of Downing Street’s political parties on purpose. Sue Gray’s initial findings were released earlier this year, and he claimed that improvements had been made, including more simple ways for employees to voice concerns about their coworkers’ behavior. Opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer called it “a testament to an administration that believed there was one rule for them and another for everyone else.”
So, what’s going on here?
Sue Gray stated in her final report that it was not her role to assess whether a criminal statute had been broken: “that is appropriately a subject for law enforcement bodies.” The Metropolitan Police announced on May 19th that their investigation was concluded. The inquiry’s terms of reference do state, however, that “if necessary, the investigations will assess whether individual disciplinary action is required.” To this point, Ms. Gray says, “those in the most subordinate positions attended events when their supervisors were there, or indeed organized.” Ms. Gray’s conclusions will be considered in this investigation into whether or not the prime minister lied to Parliament.
Author Sue Gray’s final thoughts
This study covers a 20-month period, which is unique in terms of the complexity and range of demands placed on public employees and the general public during that time. The entire country stepped up to help. Ministers and special advisers, as well as employees of the Civil Service, were key players in the effort, of which I am proud to be a part. These occurrences have yielded a plethora of data that must be implemented across the administration right away. This does not necessitate a formal police investigation.
