Sue Gray report could be released TOMORROW as watered-down Partygate investigation sparks fury
SUE GRAY’s report into multiple alleged Covid breaches inside the Cabinet Office is expected to be handed over tomorrow.
The eagerly anticipated findings into the party gate scandal – which is not expected to identify the main rule-breakers – could potentially make or break Boris Johnson’s future.
Senior politicians have pressed Ms Gray for weeks to release the report which could reveal the extent of the 20 alleged lockdown breaking parties during the coronavirus pandemic.
The slew of alleged informal meetings behind closed doors set to be detailed could include the alleged indoor birthday party and garden work get-together.
But amid a formal inquiry from the Met, The Sun this week revealed that the report’s publication could be delayed by as much as two weeks over a potential conflict of interest.
External lawyers have told the Government they face an HR nightmare if Ms Gray’s report is released and she names people currently subject to a separate police investigation.
But that legal advice could still be overruled with a watered down version of the report being put out tomorrow as Scotland Yard officers asked her to strip out most of the detail related to nine alleged parties they are investigating.
This week a Whitehall source said: “Anything worth reading will now have to be held back.
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“So there comes a point in deciding if it is even worth publishing until it can be run in full.”
Ms Gray is said to be still pushing for imminent publication, with Downing Street chiefs insisting they want to see the findings.
But government legal advisers have continued to argue that her findings must be delayed until after the Met inquiry concludes.
Met commissioner Dame Cressida Dick had previously stated plans to wait for the Cabinet Office report to be released before deciding whether to launch a probe.
But she U-turned on that decision on Tuesday in the face of heavy criticism.
PM PRESSURE
Earlier this week, Lord Frost, the one-time Brexit talk’s boss, wrote in The Sun that Boris Johnson’s government needed “to be settled in the next few days.”
And backbench Tory rebel ringleader Mark Harper has claimed: “The report must be published in full.
“Any attempt to conceal or suppress crucial details would be wrong.”
The PM will be reportedly be given a copy hours in advance of it’s publication despite reaffirming his commitment to release the dossier in full on Thursday.
Tory MPs fear it will leave the PM in limbo for months as a watered-down report will not provide enough damning evidence to trigger a no-confidence vote – or enough to clear him.
The PM’s former aide Dominic Cummings has chillingly signalled that further revelations about the PM’s chaotic leadership will continue to emerge while he remains in post.
Senior civil servants and political aides are expected to get a major dressing down from Ms Gray for their bad behaviour during lockdown.
Sources claim those close to the PM will be accused of putting him at huge risk and offering him duff advice.
Labour, meanwhile, has consciously repeated their calls for the PM to resign over the party gate row.
Sir Keir Starmer previously accused Mr Johnson of becoming a “national distraction.”
He added: “we have got a Prime Minister and a government who spend their whole time mopping up sleaze and deceit.
“Meanwhile millions of people are struggling to pay their bills. We cannot afford to go on with this chaotic, rudderless government.”