The Prime Minister allegedly met with top civil servant Sue Gray in secret to tell her to abandon her report into Partygate.
According to reports inThe Times, Boris Johnson suggested that Sue Gray should not publish her long-awaited report into Partygate during a secret meeting organised by Downing Street.
A source told The TImes: “He asked her is there much point in doing it now that it’s all out there, […] He was inferring that she didn’t need to publish the report.”
It follows an admittance by his team yesterday that it had requested a face-to-face meeting between the top civil servant tasked with investigating endemic Covid rule-breaking in Downing Street and Whitehall.
Previously, Downing Street had maintained that Sue Gray requested the meeting and refused to reveal what had been discussed.
ADVERTISEMENT
Speechless.
We now know the reason the PM met with Sue Gray, was to ask her not to release the report.
Despite the meeting, it is believed that Sue Gray could release her report as early as Wednesday morning.
The news follows the release of photographs apparently showing the Prime Minister drinking at a party in No.10 when, eight days before, he had banned people from socialising indoor with people outside their household and weddings were not allowed.
ADVERTISEMENT
Mr Johnson wasn’t fined for attending the event, but others were – including at least one other person pictured in the photographs.
Asked by an MP in the House of Commons on 8 December last year whether there had been a gathering on that date, the Prime Minister said there was not.
He told Labour MP Catherine West : “I am sure that whatever happened, the guidance was followed and the rules were followed at all times.”
ADVERTISEMENT
The Prime Minister is now open to the charge of knowingly misleading parliament.
A Downing Street source has said that the fact the Prime Minister had his red box and was ‘dropping in on a leaving do for a colleague’ made the case that he was ‘believed he was working’.
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who oversees the Metropolitan Police, has this morning joined calls for the force to explain why they didn’t fine Boris Johnson for attending the lockdown party.
He told the BBC’s Radio 4 Today Programme that the force should set out its thinking behind the decision not to fine the Prime Minister, after the release of new photographs byITVNews on Monday night.
21/05/2020. London, United Kingdom. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak join the Nation in the ‘Clap for our Carers’ at 8pm outside 10 Downing Street, to give thanks to the NHS and Key Workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Picture by Pippa Fowles / No 10 Downing Street.
Mr Khan said: “I think it’s important when it comes to trust and confidence, when it comes to policing by consent, when it comes to questions being asked about the integrity of an investigation, that the police explain why they reached the conclusions they have.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Police announced they had concluded their Partygate investigation on Thursday after handing out 126 fines for 10 gatherings.
Mr Johnson received one fixed penalty notice for attending an illegal gathering, despite evidence that he was also present at others.
The Liberal Democrats have now asked the Police Watchdog to investigate the Met’s decision.
Greater Manchester public urged to help get people ‘off the streets and on their feet’ before Christmas
Emily Sergeant
Locals are being urged to help get hundreds of people “off the streets and back on their feet” this festive season.
As the temperatures told colder by the day, and Christmas creeps closer and closer, Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity is bringing back ‘1000 Beds for Christmas’, and the massively-important initiative is aiming to provide 1,000 nights of accommodation to people at risk of homelessness before the big day arrives.
Forming part of the ongoing ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme, this festive fundraising mission is designed to provide food, shelter, warmth, and dedicated vital wrap-around support for those who need it most.
The charity says it wants to build on the “incredible success of 2023”, which raised more than £55,000 and provided 1,800 nights of accommodation.
Stockport-based property finance specialists, Together – which has supported the campaign for the last two years – has, once again, generously pledged to match every public donation for the first £20,000 raised.
Unfamiliar with the ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme? Since 2017, when rough sleeping peaked, the initiative has helped ensure a significantly-higher rate of reduction in the numbers of people facing a night on streets in Greater Manchester than seen nationally.
The landmark scheme has given people the chance to rebuild their lives, while also giving them access to key services and opportunities that allows them to stay off the streets for good.
Despite the scheme’s recent success, organisations across Greater Manchester are under “a huge amount of pressure” to meet the demand for their services this winter, and given the current economic outlook, household budgets will continue to be squeezed – leaving people on the sharp end of inequality and poverty.
Georgina Pellant -
24th May 2022 
