Partygate report ‘should have minimal reference to potential crimes’

Dame Cressida Dick and Scotland Yard face accusations they are either part of a ‘stitch up’ or incompetent today after demanding Sue Gray’s Partygate report is watered down.

In an extraordinary shift from earlier in the week, it has emerged that police have told the Cabinet Office the long-awaited document should feature ‘minimal reference’ to lockdown breaches that might be criminal.

The announcement sheds light on the delay to the report, with Ms Gray now considering pausing the process altogether rather than releasing a version that would inevitably be condemned as a whitewash. 

Police had initially briefed they were happy for the civil servant’s findings to be published in full, even though they have launched an official investigation into a number of the allegations it covers. 

Opposition MPs vented fury at the latest move, which will be a massive relief to Boris Johnson as the police probe is not likely to be complete for weeks or even months. 

Some complained that the events ‘reek of a stich-up’ while others suggested it was down to ‘incompetence’. 

Tories also conceded the situation is a ‘mess’, saying it should have obvious the report would have to be put on hold during a criminal investigation. 

Meanwhile, Theresa May has waded into the Partygate row by expressing her anger at the alleged flouting of lockdown and swiping that ‘nobody is above the law’. 

In a letter to constituents seen by her local newspaper the Maidenhead Advertiser, Mrs May wrote: ‘I have said previously that it is vital that those who set the rules, follow the rules. Nobody is above the law.

‘This is important for ensuring the necessary degree of trust between the public and Government.’ 

In its statement this morning, Scotland Yard said: ‘For the events the Met is investigating, we asked for minimal reference to be made in the Cabinet Office report.

‘The Met did not ask for any limitations on other events in the report, or for the report to be delayed, but we have had ongoing contact with the Cabinet Office, including on the content of the report, to avoid any prejudice to our investigation.’

Some legal figures questioned why publishing the report would prejudice the police investigation.

Nazir Afzal, a former chief Crown prosecutor for the North West, said on Twitter: ‘This is absolute nonsense from the Met Police. A purely factual report by Sue Gray cannot possibly prejudice a police investigation.

‘They just have to follow the evidence, of which the report will be a part.’

Human rights barrister Adam Wagner, who has spent the pandemic interpreting complex coronavirus laws and explaining them to the public on social media, said on Twitter: ‘I am not a criminal lawyer so perhaps I am missing something. How would a factual civil service report about events the police is investigating ‘prejudice’ their investigation?’

The anonymous lawyer and author known as The Secret Barrister then added: ‘I am a criminal lawyer, and I too must be missing something, because there is no reason I can see as to why an independent police criminal investigation would in any way be influenced by, or would seek to influence, a civil service report.’

But Nick Aldworth, a former Metropolitan Police chief superintendent and counter-terrorism national co-ordinator, said the report could prejudice the police investigation ‘by disclosing the evidence that they will gather and thereby giving the potential defendants an opportunity to conceal or alter evidence’.

Publication of official reports and other inquiries can often be delayed until a police investigation and any subsequent court case or inquest is concluded, typically to avoid the risk of prejudicing a jury if a criminal trial was to take place.

But in this instance, if police investigate under the provisions of the coronavirus regulations then there would be little risk of prejudice as the penalty for breaching lockdown rules is a fixed-penalty notice and it is highly unlikely to result in a prosecution.  

Whitehall sources have admitted top civil servant Ms Gray is now facing major hurdles, with questions over whether it will be worth releasing it at all.

The findings of Ms Gray’s report were passed to the Met at the weekend, prompting Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick to launch a formal investigation on Tuesday into claims that lockdown laws were broken.

There was an immediate expectation that the civil service probe would go on hold, before police surprised many by briefing that they were happy for it to be released in full.

However, in a twist after days of frantic speculation in Westminster it has now been confirmed that the Met is indeed demanding the removal of information that could be prejudicial to their investigation. 

Clarity started to emerge overnight about the way the police had thrown a spanner into the works. 

‘I know there were reports that the Met were fine for it to be published, but that proved not to be the case. Indeed, it’s the opposite,’ one Whitehall source said. 

Another Whitehall source told the Sun: ‘Anything worth reading will now have to be held back. So there comes a point in deciding if it is even worth publishing until it can be run in full.’ 

Tories have been warning Mr Johnson not to try to cover anything up in the report, but there is also bound to be fury at the Met for the way it has bungled the situation. 

Dame Cressida said on Tuesday that it would ‘not normally be’ a proportionate use of the force’s resources to investigate historic allegations of Covid breaches. But, in an ominous comment, she said investigations were carried out for ‘the most serious and flagrant type of breach’ where there was evidence of wrongdoing and no ‘reasonable defence’ – and where failure to act would ‘undermine the legitimacy of the law’.  

Despite the Met’s stance, a former chief superintendent Dal Babu said yesterday that there was no reason the report could not be published in full.

He told Sky News: ‘It is not a judge-led inquiry, she doesn’t have any specific powers to call people to give evidence. So her report will be no different to a human resources report.’

Mr Babu pointed out that the sanction for breaching lockdown rules is a fixed-penalty notice – something he described as an ‘entry-level crime’.  

Former chief whip Mark Harper, a vocal critic of the PM, said he had been moved by ‘heartbreaking’ testimonials from members of the public who were unable to see dying loved ones at a time when No10 staff are said to have held parties.

He said: ‘The report must be published in full. Any attempt to conceal or suppress crucial details would be wrong.’

Sir Keir Starmer said Labour would ‘pursue every option to make sure that report is out in full’.

The report had been due for release on Wednesday but had still not been passed to No10 this morning. Government sources said it was still possible for the report to be published today, with the PM giving a statement to Parliament later. But, with most MPs back in their constituencies, the report will likely not be published until at least Monday – leaving Mr Johnson facing another weekend in limbo.

It comes as Attorney General Suella Braverman was pictured leaving Downing Street at 7pm last night following news that dozens of Downing Street staff are facing fines after it emerged police have a list of people who attended lockdown-breaking parties. 

The rule-breakers are likely to face fines of up to £100, as people who flouted Covid restrictions during lockdowns in England were charged £100 for the first offence.

Individuals that police believe they can prove attended the gatherings at Downing Street will be contacted in the near future and issued with fixed penalty notices, according to The Telegraph.  

They will be forced to pay unless they are able to successfully challenge the fine with a reasonable explanation or evidence as to why they should not be charged.

Under lockdown rules and the Health Protection Act, people who broke Covid restrictions could be awarded fines up to £3,200 for repeated offences, though it is unclear whether people who attended multiple gatherings will face higher fines. 

Many of the individuals expected to receive a fixed penalty notice will not be interviewed by police and will not have their names disclosed to the public.

But senior figures who attended the parties, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and those believed to have organised parties despite knowing they would contravene Covid rules, may well face police interviews. 

What details are contained in Sue Gray’s report is for the senior civil servant and the police to ‘work out between them’, a Government minister has said.

It came after Scotland Yard asked for the Whitehall inquiry into allegations of lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street to make only ‘minimal reference’ to the events being investigated by police.

Technology minister Chris Philp, asked on ITV’s Good Morning Britain programme about the development, said: ‘I saw that report just a few minutes ago.

‘The way that the Sue Gray report gets put together is something that is a matter entirely for Sue Gray. It is up to her and the police how to handle that.

‘Clearly, between Sue Gray and the police, this will get fully investigated – as it should.

‘But the important thing to say is that the Government have no influence and no involvement in how Sue Gray and the police conduct their respective reports and investigations, which is right – it is right they are fully independent.

‘So, between the two of them, they will cover all of the incidents that need investigating so the public and Parliament have a full and proper account. But that is up to Sue Gray and the police to work that out between them – it is not something the Government should or would interfere with.’

It comes as former Cabinet minister Lord Frost urged Boris Johnson to axe ‘all the neo-socialists, green fanatics and pro-woke crowd’ in Downing Street to reset his premiership after the Partygate scandal. 

The row over Covid rule-busting gatherings looks set to drag into next week with Sue Gray still yet to hand over her report to Number 10 – and Tories drawing battle lines over efforts to ‘suppress or conceal’ damaging details. 

Mr Johnson has flatly denied that Ms Gray’s inquiry is being neutered as the wait for the conclusions continues – with complaints that other crucial issues are being ignored.

The PM is under growing pressure from Tory figures to conduct a massive clear out of his current Number 10 operation after the report is made public. 

Lord Frost, the former Brexit minister, tweeted that ‘whatever conclusions about the leadership Tory MPs may draw from the Gray report and whatever follows, the crucial thing is significant change in policies and in systems & people around the PM’. 

Referencing a column written by The Telegraph’s Allister Heath, the peer said: ‘In systems & people – so the levers of government work, and, as Allister says, ‘with all the neo-socialists, green fanatics and pro-woke crowd exiting immediately’.’

The comments from Lord Frost are likely to be seen by some as a jab at Mr Johnson’s wife, Carrie, who is a passionate environmentalist and has been credited with influencing the PM’s previous declaration to pursue a ‘green recovery’ after the Covid pandemic. 

The Prime Minister has faced criticism from some Tory MPs over his ‘green’ policies, with many concerned about the cost of hitting his net zero emissions target. 

It came as Ms Gray’s progress appears to have been derailed by the bombshell announcement from Scotland Yard that it has opened a criminal investigation into some of the incidents, after assessing material provided by the Cabinet Office. 

Although police insisted the report can go ahead, they are now thought to be asking for elements to be held back to avoid undermining their work.

Officials are understood to have been frantically redrafting with lawyers and HR chiefs, as a string of senior staff potentially face the axe.

Tory MP Mark Harper insisted that there must be no suggestion of a cover-up by No10, as rebels gear up for a coup attempt if the findings condemn Mr Johnson. Taking to Twitter to highlight a ‘heartbreaking’ interview with a man who lost his mother, father and sister to Covid in 2020, Mr Harper said: ‘The report must be published in full. Any attempt to conceal or suppress crucial details would be wrong.’  He was echoed by backbench organiser and former minister Steve Baker. 

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer demanded the report be published ‘in full and as soon as possible’, adding: ‘After what everybody in the country’s been through in the last year or two with the pandemic, huge sacrifices have been made, the least that they’re entitled to is the truth about what the Prime Minister was up to.’

But on a visit to Wales this afternoon, Mr Johnson said he was ‘absolutely not’ trying to influence the outcome. ‘I am afraid we have got to let the independent inquiry go on,’ he said, adding that the government was ‘getting on with our work’. 

Downing Street said: ‘We are in no way seeking to block the report nor are we seeking to do as Mark Harper suggests. It remains our intention to publish the report as it is received from the investigation.’ 

Meanwhile, aides have raised alarm that Ms Gray is determined to punish politicians and special advisers, suggesting she is on a ‘power trip’.  

And MP have been urging Mr Johnson to carry out a broad cull of Downing Street staff as part of a ‘reset’ to recover from the Partygate saga.  

As tensions rise with Russia over Ukraine and mounting panic about the pressure on families from the cost of living, ministers have complained it is increasingly difficult to get decisions from the heart of government.

But sources close to the inquiry told MailOnline that the timing would not be dictated by No10’s desire to confront the story before the weekend.

‘It is not for us to delay the report or bring forward the report to a convenient time,’ the source said. ‘If it is ready at noon today or midnight that is when we will give it. We are not in the business of handing it over at a beneficial time.’ 

One veteran Tory aide also voiced gloom about the prospects of Ms Gray letting Mr Johnson off lightly. ‘She hates politicians and special advisers,’ they told MailOnline. If anyone had a political antenna they wouldn’t have let her near this report.

‘She is on a complete power trip. She will be loving this.’ 

But he is facing problems on another front today as he was forced to bat away claims he approved a controversial airlift of animals from the collapse of Afghanistan for a charity that lobbied his wife Carrie.

Mr Johnson said the idea was ‘total rhubarb’ as he faced attacks over assistance offered to former soldier Paul Farthing and his Nowzad organisation as Kabul was abandoned to the Taliban.

Mr Johnson is bracing to acknowledge ‘serious mistakes’ and voice regret for lax enforcement of lockdown rules in No10 when the conclusions finally appear. Senior Conservatives are demanding he stages a major clearout of Downing Street staff as the price of staying in power.  

One ally told the Daily Mail: ‘He knows he has made serious mistakes, but he believes he is still the right man to lead this country.’  

Although the PM is committed to making a Commons statement after receiving the report, the House is due to finish sitting at 5pm today.

Mr Johnson will want time to scour the report and assess its implications before he faces hostile questioning from Opposition MPs and his own Tory critics. 

The Commons is running tomorrow but there is no government business and many MPs will have returned to their constituencies.

However, No10 sources indicated they are keen to get the statement done before the weekend if at all possible. 

And asked in the chamber whether a statement could happen tomorrow, Commons Leader Mr Rees-Mogg said: ‘My view is that every sitting day is a proper sitting day. There are not greater or lesser days of business in this House. 

‘The House of Commons sitting is an important constitutional activity and statements made on a Friday are as valid as statements made on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or a Thursday.

‘I don’t know when the report will be published, I don’t know when it will be possible to announce a statement, but I am certainly of the view and I know Mr Speaker you share this view that this House has the right to know first.’ 

Cabinet minister Therese Coffey said she did not know why the report into parties in Downing Street and Whitehall during the 2020 lockdowns was taking so long to produce.

‘I know the Government has committed to publishing the full findings of the report but the timing I have absolutely know idea about,’ she told Sky News.

Ms Coffey added: ‘Have I ever been to any parties in Downing Street?

‘The last party I recall going to at Downing Street was the celebration of when the UK left the European Union following the referendum.’

Downing Street has launched a major drive to bring wavering MPs back onside. Mr Johnson held one-to-one meetings with 15 MPs to listen to their concerns and explain his strategy for restoring Tory fortunes.

Amid rising tensions between Ukraine and Russia, one senior Tory suggested any confidence vote might have to be delayed for weeks if Vladimir Putin invades the country in the coming days.

As allies mounting a desperate bid to shore up the PM, Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries became the second Cabinet minister to warn that ousting the Prime Minister could trigger a general election.

That would be a serious threat to Tory MPs in the Red Wall seats seized in Mr Johnson’s 2019 landslide.

There is no requirement for a new leader to hold a general election, but Ms Dorries said previous handovers, such as Tony Blair to Gordon Brown, had taken place in ‘different times’.

Writing on Twitter she said: ‘Blair as example of why we won’t need GE is wrong.

‘It was yonks ago Blair to Brown smooth pre announced handover, no leadership election.

‘Brown was still pressured to go, bottled it and then lost. V different times pre rolling 24hr news / social media.’

Her comments echoed Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Commons leader, who said the UK now had ‘essentially a presidential system’, so any new leader would need their own mandate from the electorate.

Cabinet minister Therese Coffey has said she does not know why the Sue Gray report into parties in Downing Street is being delayed.

The Work and Pensions Secretary said she does not know when the report will come, and when asked why it was being held up, told Sky News: ‘I really don’t know. I know the Government has committed to publishing the full findings of the report but the timing I have absolutely know idea about.’

No 10 said it was yet to receive the report.

Ms Coffey added: ‘Have I ever been to any parties in Downing Street? The last party I recall going to Downing Street was the celebration of when the UK left the European Union following the referendum.’

Downing Street denied that the crisis had led to a go-slow at the heart of government.

Mr Johnson yesterday insisted he was ‘getting on with the job’, pointing to the efforts on Ukraine and the lifting of Covid regulations today. 

But one Whitehall source said it was proving impossible to get decisions out of No 10 – or even arrange meetings with the PM to discuss vital issues.

‘No 10 is completely paralysed,’ the source said. ‘There are important meetings that are not happening because the PM is too busy seeing MPs to try and shore up support. 

‘Decisions are not being taken because everyone is waiting to learn about their own futures. If it drags on it will be unsustainable.’

Sources said government lawyers were having to go through the report with a fine-tooth comb to ensure it did not prejudice the police inquiry.

One source blamed Dame Cressida for the delay and criticised her decision to drop the Met’s previous approach of waiting for Miss Gray’s report to be published before deciding on whether to take action.

Meanwhile, another source suggested the report would have to be ‘significantly toned down’ now that the police probe has been launched, adding: ‘It is very difficult to see how you can publish direct evidence against named people who might be the subject of a police inquiry.’

Downing Street has committed to publishing the report in full within hours of receiving it, with Mr Johnson expected to make an immediate statement.

The PM yesterday confirmed that he might have to resign if the report finds he knowingly misled Parliament over parties in No 10. 

He said he was covered by the ministerial code, which makes misleading parliament a resignation issue.

But allies of the PM are confident that although he previously told MPs that ‘rules were followed at all times’, he is not guilty of knowingly misleading the House as that is what he believed to be true at the time.

The steady stream of allegations over alleged breaches of the rules have undermined the Prime Minister and many of his critics are waiting for Miss Gray’s report before deciding whether or not to submit formal letters saying that they have no confidence in his leadership. 

Several Tory MPs remain poised to submit letters of no confidence in the Prime Minister as soon as Miss Gray’s report is published.

Some believe the threshold of 54 letters could be passed in the coming days, paving the way for a formal vote over his leadership. 

But Bolton MP Mark Logan, who last week hinted he thought the PM should go, today said a meeting with Mr Johnson had convinced him that he had the capacity to get his premiership back on track.

Mr Logan told Sky News: ‘I could see he feels real contrition. He feels very sorry for the mistakes which have been made. But when he digs deep I think he can continue to lead this country.’

Fellow Tory MP Sir Edward Leigh said: ‘I think opinion is calming down at the moment.

‘I think when the history of this is written, people will think it’s almost ridiculous that in the midst of all these global challenges that we face, that serious people were calling on the Prime Minister to resign because of some social events… for which he’s apologised.’

‘Spike tax hike and we’ll back you’: Tory MPs tell Boris Johnson he will win their support over partygate if he reconsiders national insurance rise

Tory MPs are urging Boris Johnson to rethink the national insurance hike as he tries to win their backing over Partygate.

The Prime Minister has met wavering backbenchers in a bid to shore up support ahead of the publication of Sue Gray’s report into claims of lockdown breaches at No 10.

Sources say several have pressed him to delay the national insurance increase and ease the cost of living crisis facing millions of families.

The MPs are thought to want Mr Johnson to be ‘more Conservative’ – in return for backing him to lead them into the next election.

The campaign for Chancellor Rishi Sunak to put off the tax grab is rapidly gathering momentum.

The British Chambers of Commerce and the Institute of Directors both yesterday called for it to be scrapped. They have been inundated with calls from members concerned that the 1.25 percentage point rise in national insurance contributions would damage the economy and stop firms taking on staff. 

Supposed to help fund health and social care, the £12billion tax grab takes effect from April. However, there are concerns that most of the money will be spent on the NHS treatment backlog and that it will come in just as families face rocketing energy and council tax bills.

On Tuesday, the Mail revealed that Lord Frost, the PM’s former Brexit chief, had added his support to calls for the hike to be scrapped. Some Cabinet ministers have insisted that the rise will still go ahead even though the PM appeared to leave the door ajar for a rethink in a television interview.

Official figures this week suggested the Government now had ‘headroom’ to cancel the tax increase after borrowing around £13billion less than expected.

It was claimed that the PM was ‘receptive’ to pleas from MPs and had left them believing he would embark on a ‘massive gear shift’ to tackle the cost of living crisis.

Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg cast doubt over Cabinet support for the policy last night, telling the BBC: ‘I am very pleased you are talking about the cost of living – that is where the Government needs to be putting its energy … but taxation is a matter for the Chancellor.’

Since the national insurance increase was announced in September energy prices have rocketed and inflation has risen to its highest level in three decades.

On top of that, many experts predict that interest rates will rise significantly in the coming months – adding hundreds of pounds to mortgage repayments. The tax grab will cost someone on a £30,000 salary around £255 a year and £505 for those on £50,000. But it also costs businesses because employers have to pay the levy on wages.

Kitty Ussher of the IoD said: ‘This will make the cost of living crisis worse by reducing take-home pay. It’s a tax on jobs, causing businesses to employ less people. It will hurt companies the hardest that have suffered most recently like leisure and hospitality.

‘Businesses will have to pay regardless of whether they are profitable, increasing their costs and pushing up the prices they charge, making inflation even worse. We want to see this tax rise scrapped.

‘Frankly, there’s enough for business leaders to be worrying about in the wider economy at the moment without adding this into the mix.’

The BCC’s Shevaun Haviland said: ‘Our members are telling us they are being squeezed by rising wages due to fierce competition for staff, and that the incoming NI increase will compound this at the worst possible time. If this tax increase is not postponed, we will see a stranglehold put on the economic recovery just when it needs to be powering up. Firms need to be given a chance to come up for air.’

Quizzed on the issue, Mr Johnson’s spokesman replied: ‘We need to responsibly fund how we tackle the backlog and how we deal with the challenge of social care.’ 

Source: Daily Mail