BREAKING UPDATE: Prime Minister Boris Johnson reacts to Sue Gray ‘Partygate’ report

BREAKING UPDATE: Prime Minister Boris Johnson reacts to Sue Gray 'Partygate' report

Image: UK Gov

UK Prime Minister has reacted to the Sue Gray ‘Partygate’ report, which she finally published on Wednesday, May 25.

UPDATE 3.22 pm (May 25) – Boris Johnson – the UK Prime Minister caught very much in the middle of the ‘Partygate’ scandal that has rocked his government and has seen fines, firings and fiascos – has reacted to the official publication of the Sue Gray report.

He said at the Commons following the PMQs on Wednesday, May 23: “I am grateful to Sue Gray for her report today and I want to thank her for the work she has done, and also to thank the Metropolitan Police for completing their investigation.

“I want to begin by renewing my apology to the House and to the whole country, for the short lunchtime gathering on 19th June 2020 in the Cabinet Room during which I stood at my place at the Cabinet table, and for which I received a Fixed Penalty Notice, and I also want to say that I take full responsibility for everything that took place on my watch.”

Sue Gray produced a 37-page report, plus photos, on the scandal, which angered the British public who were following lockdown rules during the time of the Downing Street parties.

He continued: “Sue Gray’s report has emphasised that it is up to the political leadership in No10 to take the ultimate responsibility, and of course I do. But since these investigations have now come to an end, this is my first opportunity to set out some of the context and to explain both my understanding of what happened and also to explain what I have previously said to the House.

“It is important to set out that over a period of about 600 days, gatherings on a total of eight dates have been found to be in breach of the regulations, in a building that is 5,300 metres square across five floors, excluding the flats, I do think it is important, because this is the first time I’ve been able to set out the context in which hundreds of staff are entitled to work, and in the Cabinet Office, which has thousands of officials and is now the biggest it has been at any point in its 100-year history, and that in itself is one of the reasons why the government is now looking for change and reform.

“Those staff working in Downing Street were permitted to continue attending their office for the purpose of work and the exemption under the regulations applied to their work because of the nature of their jobs reporting directly to the Prime Minister,” Mr Johnson said.

“These people were working extremely long hours, doing their very best to give this country the ability to fight the pandemic and I appreciate this is no mitigation but it is important to set out the context not to mitigate or absolve myself in any way.

“And the exemption under which they were present in Downing Street includes those circumstances where officials and advisers were leaving the government, and it was appropriate to recognise them and thank them for the work they have done.”

He added: “I briefly attended such gatherings to thank them for their service, which I believe is one of the essential duties of leadership and particularly important when people need to feel that their contributions have been appreciated and to keep morale as high as possible.

Mr Johnson was one of 83 individuals to receive fixed-penalty notices from the Metropolitan Police.

“It is clear from what Sue Gray has had to say that several of these gatherings then went on far longer than was necessary,” he continued.

“They were clearly in breach of the rules and they clearly fell foul of the rules. I have to tell the house because the house will need to know this, and again this is not to mitigate or extenuate. But I had no knowledge of subsequent proceedings because I simply wasn’t there, and I have been as surprised and disappointed as anyone else in this House as the revelations unfolded.”

He said: “I have been appalled by some of the behaviour, particularly in the treatment of the security and the cleaning staff. And I would like to apologise to those members of staff and I expect anyone who behaved in that way to apologise to them as well.

“And I am happy to set on the record now, that when I said – I came to this house and said in all sincerity – the rules and guidance had been followed at all times it was what I believed to be true.

“It was certainly the case when I was present at gatherings to wish staff farewell, and the House will note that my attendance at these moments – brief as it was – has not been found to be outside the rules.

“But clearly this was not the case for some of those gatherings after I had left, and at other gatherings when I was not even in the building. So I would like to correct the record, to take this opportunity, not in any sense to absolve myself of responsibility but simply to explain why I spoke as I did in this House.”

The PM said in his statement that Sue Gray acknowledged his response to her interim report and said she was pleased with the very significant changes that have already been enacted.

“She writes – and I quote – “I am pleased that progress is being made in addressing the issues I raised.”

“And she adds – “Since my update there have been changes to the organisation and management of Downing Street and the Cabinet Office with the aim of creating clearer lines of leadership and accountability and now these need the chance and time to bed in.”

He continued: “Number 10 now has its own permanent secretary charged with applying the highest standards of governance. There are now easier ways for staff to voice any worries and Sue Gray welcomes that – and I quote “steps have since been taken to introduce more easily accessible means by which to raise concerns electronically, in person or online, including directly with the Permanent Secretary.”

“The entire senior management has changed,” he said.

“There is a new Chief of Staff, an elected Member of this House who also commands the status of a Cabinet Minister. There is a new director of Communications, a new Principal Private Secretary and a number of other key appointments in my office.

“And I am confident that with the changes and new structures that are now in place, that we are humbled by the experience, and we have learned our lesson. And I want to conclude by saying that I am humbled, and I have learned a lesson.

He added: “I want to say whatever the failings of No10 and the Cabinet Office throughout this very difficult period and my own, and for which I take full responsibility.

“I continue to believe that the civil servants and advisers in question, hundreds of them, thousands of them – some of whom, Mr Speaker are the very people who have received fines – are good hard-working people, motivated by the highest calling to do the very best for our country.

“And I will always be proud of what they achieved, including procuring essential life-saving PPE, creating the biggest testing programme in Europe, and helping to enable the development and distribution of the vaccine, which got this country through the worst pandemic of a century.”

The 57-year-old continued: “We must get our country through the aftershocks of Covid, with every ounce of ingenuity and compassion and hard work.

“So I hope that, today, as well as learning the lessons from Sue Gray’s report to which I am glad I commissioned and I again, I repeat that I’m grateful to her.

“I hope very much that now she has reported, we will be able to move on and focus on the priorities of the British people, standing firm against Russian aggression, easing the hardship caused by the rising costs that people are facing, and fulfilling our pledge to generate the high wage, high skilled, high employment that will unite and level up our whole United Kingdom.”

“That is my mission, that is our mission, that is the mission of the whole of the government and we will work day and night to deliver it. And I commend this Statement to the House,” he concluded.


ORGINAL 12.43 pm (MAY 25) – Investigating the scandal, dubbed ‘Partygate’ because of Downing Street’s lockdown rule-breaking parties held during the height of the pandemic in the UK, veteran civil servant Sue Gray was tasked with producing a report on the main incidents.

She initially released a heavily-redacted report back on January 31 and was prevented from releasing a fuller version at the time by the Metropolitan Police.

However, since then, following the Met’s own probe into the scandal, police have issued 126 fixed-penalty notices to 83 individuals, including prime minister Boris Johnson, his wife Carrie Johnson and chancellor Rishi Sunak.

Now, today, Wednesday, May 25, Ms Gray has finally released her final 37-page report, plus photos.

Sue Gray’s conclusions from the report state that the general findings set out in her January 31, 2022 update still stand.

“Whatever the initial intent, what took place at many of these gatherings and the way in which they developed was not in line with Covid guidance at the time. Even allowing for the extraordinary pressures officials and advisers were under, the factual findings of this report illustrate some attitudes and behaviours inconsistent with that guidance. It is also clear, from the outcome of the police investigation, that a large number of individuals (83) who attended these events breached Covid regulations and therefore Covid guidance.

“I have already commented in my update on what I found to be failures of leadership and judgment in No 10 and the Cabinet Office. The events that I investigated were attended by leaders in government. Many of these events should not have been allowed to happen. It is also the case that some of the more junior civil servants believed that their involvement in some of these events was permitted given the attendance of senior leaders. The senior leadership at the centre, both political and official, must bear responsibility for this culture.

“In my update, I made a number of general limited findings, I am pleased progress is being made in addressing the issues I raised. I commented on the fragmentary and complicated leadership structures in No 10. Since my update, there have been changes to the organisation and management of Downing Street and the Cabinet Office with the aim of creating clearer lines of leadership and accountability and now these need the chance and time to bed in.

“I found that some staff had witnessed or been subjected to behaviours at work which they had felt concerned about but at times felt unable to raise properly. I was made aware of multiple examples of a lack of respect and poor treatment of security and cleaning staff. This was unacceptable. I am reassured to see that steps have since been taken to introduce more easily accessible means by which to raise concerns electronically, in person or online, including directly with the Permanent Secretary in No 10. I hope that this will truly embed a culture that welcomes and creates opportunities for challenge and speaking up at all levels.

“I also made a recommendation that steps should be taken to ensure that every Government Department has a clear and robust policy in place covering the consumption of alcohol in the workplace. Since then guidance has been issued to all Government Departments.

“The matter of what disciplinary action should now take place is outside of the scope of this report and is for others to consider. Nothing set out in this report can be taken as constituting a disciplinary investigation or findings of fact appropriate for such a purpose. However, I do offer a reflection: while there is no excuse for some of the behaviour set out here it is important to acknowledge that those in the most junior positions attended gatherings at which their seniors were present, or indeed organised. I have no doubt that they will have taken the learning from this experience and, while this is not a matter for me, I hope this will be taken into account in considering any disciplinary action.

“Many will be dismayed that behaviour of this kind took place on this scale at the heart of Government. The public have a right to expect the very highest standards of behaviour in such places and clearly what happened fell well short of this. It is my firm belief, however, that these events did not reflect the prevailing culture in Government and the Civil Service at the time. Many thousands of people up and down the country worked tirelessly to deliver in unprecedented times. I remain immensely proud to be a civil servant and of the work of the service and the wider public sector during the pandemic.”

You can read the Sue Gray report in full here.

Boris Johnson is expected to give a statement to the Commons about the report after Prime Minister’s Questions at around 12.30 pm (UK time).


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Written by

Matthew Roscoe

Originally from the UK, Matthew is based on the Costa Blanca and is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

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