Sue Gray report calls on Government to 'learn' from 'serious failure' of Downing Street parties during Covid lockdown

In her report on the partygate row, Sue Gray said the Downing Street garden was “used for gatherings without clear authorisation or oversight” and “this was not appropriate.”

The investigating civil servant Sue Gray found that “at least some of the gatherings” she investigated 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”.

Sue Gray called on Downing Street and the Government to "learn" from partygate.

Concluding her report she said:

"The gatherings within the scope of this investigation are spread over a 20-month period – a period that has been unique in recent times in terms of the complexity and breadth of the demands on public servants and indeed the general public. The whole of the country rose to the challenge.

"Ministers, special advisers and the Civil Service, of which I am proud to be a part, were a key and dedicated part of that national effort. However, as I have noted, a number of these gatherings should not have been allowed to take place or to develop in the way that they did.

"There is significant learning to be drawn from these events which must be addressed immediately across Government. This does not need to wait for the police investigations to be concluded."