Boris Johnson is braced for more damaging criticism as the senior civil servant investigating lockdown parties in Downing Street and Whitehall is set to hand over her final report.
Sue Gray is expected to be highly critical of the culture in No 10 which led to the repeated violations of Covid restrictions over the course of 2020 and 2021.
As well as a 37-page report, the documents handed to No 10 include nine photos related to partygate incidents, including pictures of the Prime Minister, Mr Case and Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
Following his receipt of her report – which he has pledged to publish in full – Mr Johnson will make a statement to MPs in the Commons.
Later on Wednesday, he will stage a press conference in Downing Street and address the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs who will have to decide whether the findings are sufficiently serious to warrant a push to oust him.
Sue Gray's report
Stefan Rousseau
Ms Gray’s report will give the clearest picture so far of events which led to widespread public anger, including the names of some of those who attended gatherings.
Officials impacted by the inquiry, including those to be named, were written to ahead of its publication, allowing them to have a chance to respond before it was finalised.
Ahead of its release, a Cabinet ally of the Prime Minister said Mr Johnson accepted that there had been “failings” in Government and had apologised for what went wrong.
Following his receipt of the report, Mr Johnson will make a statement to MPs in the Commons.
Sue Gray
GOV.UK
He will then stage a press conference in Downing Street and address the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs who will have to decide whether the findings are sufficiently serious to warrant a push to oust him.
According to an earlier, shortened version published in January, Ms Gray’s investigation analysed events from May 15 2020 to April 16 2021.
The full publication into the parties was sidelined as the Metropolitan Police conducted its own partygate probe, dubbed Operation Hillman.
The force concluded its investigation on May 19, with 126 fines being issued in total to 83 people.
Mr Johnson received one for an event held on his 56th birthday and was told he would face no further action over other gatherings covered by the inquiry.
Earlier this week, two new photographs apparently depicting separate gatherings at Downing Street were published.
Images obtained by ITV appeared to show Mr Johnson raising a toast and drinking wine at a gathering held to mark the departure of former spin doctor Lee Cain on November 13 2020.
The Mirror meanwhile published a picture showing a man standing at a table with nine bottles of wine and prosecco, which was claimed to have been taken at a gathering to mark the final press briefing by Mr Johnson’s former official spokesman James Slack on November 17 2020.
On Tuesday, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan wrote to the acting head of the Metropolitan Police Sir Stephen House to explain the force’s decisions over partygate after pictures emerged of Mr Johnson drinking at a gathering for which he was not fined.
