Today, Boris Johnson begged with the public – and his own MPs – to move on from Partygate, as Sue Gray published her harrowing story of drunken antics at the heart of government during the Covid epidemic.
After running the gauntlet of the House of Commons, a news conference, and a private meeting with his own restive backbenchers, the Prime Minister struck a somber tone as he stated the government had ‘learned our lesson’ in the aftermath of the ‘appalling’ behavior.
Civil Servant Ms Gray revealed details of a litany of debauched events while the rest of the country adhered to draconian lockdown rules, including drunken parties that led to vomiting and fighting in the corridors of power.
Her long-awaited report reignited calls for the Pm to step down, although he avoided the worst of the criticism it contained.
Mr Johnson told the Commons this afternoon he personally was ‘humbled’ after being issued a fine for attending his birthday celebration in June 2020.
But he refused to meekly accept all the criticism levelled at him. He also claimed that all he had done to earn the £50 penalty was ‘stand by my desk’ for a ‘short period’.
Mr Johnson denied lying to Parliament about the breaches, arguing that leaving dos were needed to keep up ‘morale’ while people were ‘working hard’ and he was ‘proud’ of the efforts of staff – even though the gatherings breached laws his Government set.
He said the report had backed his view that such functions were ‘work events’ and attending them was ‘part of my job’.
He told the Commons he wanted to ‘move on’ and focus on issues like Ukraine and the cost of living, the premier said: ‘I take full responsibility for everything that took place on my watch.’
It was a line he repeated at a downbeat meeting of the backbench Tory 1922 Committee this evening. While admitting that the scandal had held up a ‘mirror’ to the government, he claimed it had some times been ‘distorted’ by inaccurate accounts of what happened.
Stoke MP Jonathan Gullis, a supporter of the PM, said Mr Johnson had been ‘extremely apologetic’ as he addressed Conservative backbenchers and told them: ‘I’m sorry’.
‘His tone was extremely measured and compassionate,’ Mr Gullis said. ‘He full understands there is a lot of rebuilding to do, with some colleagues and the wider country. I’m confident we are going to get back on track.’
He added that Mr Johnson had not faced any ‘dissenting voices’ at the 1922. However, as the meeting was going on, York Outer MP Julian Sturdy became the latest Conservative to call on Mr Johnson to resign.
He said: ‘While I thought it important to wait for the conclusion of the Metropolitan Police investigation and the publication of the Sue Gray report, I am now unable to give the Prime Minister the benefit of the doubt and feel it is now in the public interest for him to resign.’
In addition, several MPs, including former minister Steve Baker, left the meeting early. Mr Baker, a former supporter of the PM, has joined the ranks of those demanding he quit.
Earlier, Mr Johnson was heckled in the House as he said ‘the entire senior management has changed’ at No10, and Keir Starmer accused him of treating the country ‘with contempt’.
But the Labour leader was forced to deny having broken the law himself as he was barracked over the ‘Beergate’ police investigation into an election campaign visit to Durham last year.
The premier was also boosted as Tory MPs were largely supportive in the chamber – even heckling long-term critic Tobias Ellwood as he called for a new leader.
Theresa May, who has been increasingly vocal in her disapproval, left after about half-an-hour without speaking. And a wave of Cabinet ministers rallied round urging a new focus on people’s problems.
One frustrated rebel told MailOnline that it is now ‘irrelevant’ whether Tories send letters of no-confidence in Mr Johnson, as if a full vote was triggered they would certainly lose and inflict further damage on the party in the process.
‘There definitely isn’t the 180 to get rid of him,’ the MP said.
Meanwhile, a snap poll by YouGov after the report found 59 per cent of Britons believe Mr Johnson should quit – but significantly just 7 per cent thought that he would do so.
In her 37-page verdict, Ms Gray slammed ‘excessive’ drinking at a slew of bashes in Downing Street and Whitehall – many of which broke lockdown rules.
Among the revelations in the Gray report:
- Former communications director Lee Cain warned No10 private secretary Martin Reynolds that a planned Bring Your Own Booze party on May 20, 2020 was ‘somewhat of a comms risk’. Mr Reynolds remarked afterwards that they seemed to have ‘got away with it’;
- Mr Johnson joined five special advisers in a meeting with ‘food and alcohol’ in his Downing Street flat on November 13, 2020, after the announcement of Dominic Cummings’ departure, but the report does not comment on whether it was a lockdown breach;
- Ms Gray slated multiple examples of ‘unacceptable’ treatment of security and cleaning staff;
- Former proprietary and ethics chief Helen MacNamara provided a karaoke machine for a Cabinet Office gathering on June 18, 2020, to mark the departure of another official;
- The report confirmed there was a fight at the event on June 18 and someone was sick. ‘There was excessive alcohol consumption by some individuals. One individual was sick. There was a minor altercation between two other individuals.’
- Mr Johnson brought the cheese and wine pictured in a garden gathering on May 15 2020 from his flat, although it appears to have been a valid work event.
She describes how officials enjoyed karaoke, were sick in offices, sloshed red win up the walls, and even got into fights while the rest of the country was under harsh restrictions.
Ms Gray was particularly scathing about a raucous leaving party in Downing Street on the eve of the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral, when a child’s swing was broken by revellers. Mr Johnson was not present.
And former No10 principal private secretary Martin Reynolds was warned by colleagues that a notorious ‘BYOB’ bash in May 2020 was a bad idea – but remarked afterwards that they had ‘got away with’ the event. Mr Reynolds has been tipped as the next ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
However, there was limited direct criticism of Mr Johnson himself, with Dominic Cummings complaining that Ms Gray had let him off the hook by failing to investigate an alleged ‘Abba Party’ in his grace-and-favour flat.
Mr Johnson said staff had been working ‘extremely long hours’ and ‘doing their best’ to help the country in the pandemic, adding to MPs: ‘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 and to thank them for the work they had done.
‘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.’
As he was heckled, the PM said: ‘I’m trying to explain the reasons I was there. It’s clear from what Sue Gray had to say that some of these gatherings then went on far longer than was necessary and they were clearly in breach of the rules and they fell foul of the rules.’
Responding to allegations he deliberately misled Parliament, Mr Johnson said: ‘I have been as surprised and disappointed as anyone else in this House as the revelations have unfolded and, frankly, I have been appalled by some of the behaviour, particularly in the treatment of the security and the cleaning staff.
‘And I’d like to apologise to those members of staff and I expect anyone who behaved in that way to apologise to them as well.’
At the press conference in Downing Street, Mr Johnson again defended staff. ‘They genuinely believed what they were doing was working and they were working around the clock.’
Mr Johnson said he had said sorry to staff who suffered rudeness and abuse from aides.
‘I was appalled to learn that there have been multiple examples in Sue Gray’s phrase of disrespectful land and poor treatment of cleaning and security personnel,’ he said.
‘I personally apologised to those dedicated members of staff for what happened and I expect anyone who behaved in that way to do the same.’
The report included nine photographs featuring Mr Johnson, Rishi Sunak and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case.
Four are from the PM’s birthday ‘party’ in the Cabinet Room in June 2020 – over which he was fined along with wife Carrie and Mr Sunak. The politicians and Mr Case can be seen with a tray of sandwiches.
Five other pictures are from a leaving do for spin doctor Lee Cain in November 2020, where Mr Johnson is shown making a toast in front of tables loaded with booze.
The mandarin said in her conclusions: ‘The senior leadership at the centre, both political and official, must bear responsibility for this culture.’
She said: ‘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.’
It is understood that Mr Case is not set to be sacked over the scandal, following rumours he could carry the can despite not being given an FPN himself.
Mr Johnson has drawn up ‘masochism strategy’ in a bid to defuse anger, giving a press conference after his statement to Parliament, and then addressing Conservative MPs this evening.
Ministers are hoping to shift the agenda on as swiftly as possible by announcing a fresh cost-of-living bailout as early as tomorrow that could be worth £10billion, part-funded by a windfall tax on surging profits at energy firms.
MPs have been mulling sending more no-confidence letters to the chair of the powerful Tory 1922 committee – with 54 required to trigger a full vote on whether to oust Mr Johnson.
Mr Johnson is also facing an inquiry by the Commons Privileges Committee into whether he misled Parliament by insisting there were no parties in Downing Street.
That included specifically denying anything happened on November 13, 2020, when there is photographic evidence that he gave a speech and made a toast at a leaving do for one of his spin doctors.
The report was finally published this morning at 11.30am, around an hour after it was handed to the PM.<
Share on Facebook «||» Share on Twitter «||» Share on Reddit «||» Share on LinkedIn