[ad_1]
Civil Servant Sue Gray has delivered a damning report over the “gatherings” held at Downing Street through 20 months of lockdown – at a time when the Prime Minister was telling people that they were required by law to avoid such events.
Gray has been careful to use the neutral word “gatherings” rather than parties. But one of her key findings is an “excessive use of alcohol” at these events. Most people would describe “gatherings” where excessive alcohol flows as parties and not gatherings.
The report in effect confirms a string of media reports about these “gatherings”, many of which Downing Street has been forced to acknowledge. The Prime Minister’s office has not of its own disclosed any information on such events.
Gray has documented 16 such gatherings through the lockdown and shared that information with the police, who say they have additional information of their own. The police are investigating 12 of these events; the remaining four did not appear to meet the threshold of seriousness that would require investigation.
That does mean the police do consider the information in relation to 12 of these serious enough to have begun an investigation. Of these, the Prime Minister is personally reported to have been present at three.
Sue Gray says her five-page report is limited (she describes it as an “update”) because the police have requested her to withhold information that is related to their investigation.
“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,” she says. But with a reminder that she knows more than she is able to say currently.
“Extensive substantive factual information is now available and has been compiled by me and my team to fulfil my obligation to establish the facts,” she says in her report. “The investigative work is now essentially complete.”
All this information has been shared with the police, she says, but that she has it and will keep it in her possession too. “I have also been asked to retain all the other information collected in the course of this work, which I have confirmed that I will do. I will therefore ensure the secure storage and safekeeping of all the information gathered until such time as it may be required further.”
That further information appears now like a sword hanging over Boris Johnson.
‘Failure of leadership and judgment’
Based on the information she has, the conclusions Gray offers in her brief summary are nevertheless dire for Boris Johnson and his government. She has found “failure of leadership and judgment” in holding these gatherings at Downing Street. “There was too little thought given to what was happening across the country in considering the appropriateness of some of these gatherings.”
Against the backdrop of the pandemic, she says “when the Government was asking citizens to accept far-reaching restrictions on their lives, some of the behaviour surrounding these gatherings is difficult to justify. At least some of the gatherings in question 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.”
Gray notes: “There were failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No 10 and the Cabinet Office at different times. Some of the events should not have been allowed to take place. Other events should not have been allowed to develop as they did.”
And develop over a fair amount of drinking. “The excessive consumption of alcohol is not appropriate in a professional workplace at any time,” she says. “Steps must be taken to ensure that every Government Department has a clear and robust policy in place covering the consumption of alcohol in the workplace.”
Boris takes flight
Boris Johnson has reacted by a decision to leave these matters behind, quite actually so, and head off to Ukraine to engage in some diplomacy over the Russian threat. He sought repeatedly to project in Parliament that he was interested in the big issues and that he was getting them right for Britain. In response to most questions about partygate, he boasted about Brexit.
Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer demanded he resign, and not just order a shake-up of Downing Street officials. “He’s finally fallen back on his usual excuse,” he said in Parliament. “It’s everyone’s fault but his.”
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Union Budget 2022 updates here.
[ad_2]
Source link