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Boris and Carrie Johnson face being quizzed by the Met 'within days'

February 1, 2022

Boris and Carrie Johnson face being quizzed by Met Police ‘within days’ after Sue Gray’s Partygate probe handed 300 photos and 500 pages of evidence to detectives probing 12 ‘criminal’ bashes including ‘FOUR the PM attended’

Police are poring over dossier of 300 Partygate photos with Carrie Johnson’s ‘party’ under investigation
Scotland Yard is examining eight dates on which 12 events are said to have taken place, with detectives gathering 500 pages of information
Boris Johnson is understood to have attended at least four gatherings being probed by the Met Police officers
Top civil servant Sue Gray has delivered report into claims of rule breaches, but made clear watered down

Booze culture and ‘difficult to justify’ behaviour in No10

Sue Gray set out her findings in seven sections of her 12-page report today.

Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie face being questioned by detectives probing lockdown-breaching Whitehall parties ‘within days’ it emerged tonight after a trove of evidence was handed to Scotland Yard.

Detectives are poring over a dossier of 300 Partygate photos with Carrie Johnson’s alleged Abba bash now one of 12 under investigation.

Scotland Yard is examining eight dates on which events are said to have taken place and a spokesman said last night that it had gathered 500 pages of information.

The Prime Minister is understood to have attended at least four gatherings being probed by the police, including a ‘bring your own booze’ garden party and a birthday party where he was ‘ambushed by cake’. Two of the events the Met is investigating had not been reported on.

Detectives also said they were looking into a bash said to have taken place in the Prime Minister’s Downing Street flat to mark the departure of Dominic Cummings in November 2020.

It was claimed at the weekend that Abba music was played at a victory party attended by Mrs Johnson after her husband’s former chief adviser had left with his belongings in a box.

The couple insist the party did not take place – a denial the Prime Minister repeated in the Commons yesterday.

But Sue Gray’s report listed the event as one which the civil servant said was in the scope of her inquiry. It means the Prime Minister and his wife could be fined.

The Met said the photographs were handed over by the Cabinet Office on Friday and officers were sifting through them to determine which individuals needed to be questioned further.

Those individuals will be sent a series of questions by post or email before officers decide whether they should be fined for breaching Covid regulations.

Tonight sources told The Sun such questioning could be just ‘days away’.

The PM was earlier lashed by Tories as he delivered a half-apology after the Sue Gray report condemned ‘failures of leadership and judgment’ in Downing Street.

Ms Gray said she is ‘extremely limited’ in what she could publish due to the police requesting ‘minimal reference’ to incidents they are investigating – but she made clear she wants to release more information once the investigation is completed, something No10 has so far refused to commit to.

But the Prime Minister is said to be keen for the report to come out and told a friend last night: ‘As far as I’m concerned, I’d love to have the whole thing published. I’m as confident as I can be they won’t find fault with what I’ve done.’

However, its publication is likely to be a moment of maximum danger, with some allies of Mr Johnson fearing it could be the trigger for a coup by disgruntled Tory MPs.

Ms Gray revealed in her report that police are now investigating twelve bashes as potentially criminal – including four allegedly attended by the PM and some involving wife Carrie. In a worrying sign for Mr Johnson detectives have been handed an astonishing 300 photographs.

Running the gauntlet of the Commons an hour after the six-page report was finally published, Mr Johnson admitted people had been forced to make ‘sacrifices’ in lockdown and he understood their ‘anger’.

He said he was now making changes, hinting at a clearout of top aides and announcing the creation of an Office of the Prime Minister to support him.

‘I get it and I will fix it,’ he said.

But the contrition did not last long, as he used the ongoing police probe as a shield and bullishly insisted he is ‘getting on with the job I was elected to do’ – ‘delivering’ on issues such as Brexit and levelling up.

He said that was what the public ‘want us to focus on’ instead of ‘talking about ourselves’.

No10 made clear that no officials have been sacked, although a notorious wine fridge is apparently being removed from the building and restrictions could be imposed on drinking at desks.

Mr Johnson faced angry Tory MPs in Westminster tonight, telling them he ‘nearly died’ from Covid as a sign he took it seriously. The Prime Minister arrived at the meeting of the parliamentary party to muted cheers, flanked by Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab.

The first ministerial resignation emerged tonight as Guildford MP Angela Richardson revealed she quit as an aide to Michael Gove over Partygate last week.

In a statement on Facebook, she said: ‘Sue Gray’s report published today clearly states that there were failings at Number Ten Downing Street that let us all down.’

Keir Starmer said it was now clear Mr Johnson himself is under criminal investigation, branding him a ‘man with no shame’ for not quitting.

Detectives are poring over a dossier of 300 Partygate photos with Carrie Johnson’s alleged Abba bash now one of 12 under investigation. Pictured: Mr Johnson and Carrie at the Eden Project in June 2021

Mr Johnson apologised for the way the Partygate probe had been handled and said he would make changed to the way No10 is run

Keir Starmer said it was now clear Mr Johnson himself is under criminal investigation, branding him a ‘man with no shame’ for not quitting

Sue Gray (left) has finally delivered her findings on Partygate to the PM – but made clear she wants to release more information after the police probe completes. Last week the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick (right) announced officers have launched a criminal inquiry after assessing a dossier of evidence compiled by Ms Gray

How could Boris Johnson be ousted by Tory MPs?

Boris Johnson is under huge pressure over Partygate, with speculation that he might even opt to walk away.

But barring resignation, the Tories have rules on how to oust and replace the leader.

What is the mechanism for removing the Tory leader? Tory Party rules allow the MPs to force a vote of no confidence in their leader.

How is that triggered? A vote is in the hands of the chairman of the Tory Party’s backbench 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady.

A vote of no confidence must be held if 15 per cent of Tory MPs write to the chairman. Currently that threshold is 54 MPs.

Letters are confidential unless the MP sending it makes it public. This means only Sir Graham knows how many letters there are.

What happens when the threshold is reached? A vote is held, with the leader technically only needing to win support from a simple majority of MPs

But in reality, a solid victory is essential for them to stay in post.

What happens if the leader loses?

The leader is sacked if they do not win a majority of votes from MPs, and a leadership contest begins in which they cannot stand.

However, they typically stay on as Prime Minister until a replacement is elected.

‘By routinely breaking the rules he set, the Prime Minister took us all for fools, he held people’s sacrifice in contempt, he showed himself unfit for office,’ he said.

‘But Prime Minister, the British public aren’t fools, they never believed a word of it, they think the Prime Minister should do the decent thing and resign.

‘Of course he won’t because he is a man without shame and just as he has done throughout his life, he’s damaged everyone and everything around him along the way.’

And he was joined by a slew of Conservatives during the marathon 113-minute session – raising fresh questions over whether the 54 letters from MPs needed to trigger a confidence vote might be sent soon.

In a brutal intervention, Theresa May said Mr Johnson either ‘didn’t read the rules’ or thought they ‘didn’t apply’ to No10. ‘Which is it?’ she demanded.

Former Cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell attacked the premier in the chamber saying he was ‘deeply concerned’ about some of the things the PM had said at the despatch box.

‘I have to tell him he no longer enjoys my support,’ he said.

Grandee Bernard Jenkin warned that Tory MPs don’t need lessons on how to remove ‘failing’ leaders, suggesting Mr Johnson only has ‘months’ to show he can recover.

Red Wall MP Aaron Bell said he had gone to a funeral in lockdown and not stayed for a cup of tea afterwards, asking: ‘Does the PM think I am a fool?’

In stormy exchanges – that saw SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford kicked out for accusing the premier of ‘wilfully’ misleading the House – Mr Johnson said he ‘stood by’ previous words seemingly denying parties had happened.

He dodged questions about specific parties, insisting everyone must wait for the police probe to finish.

Mr Johnson repeatedly refused in the House to commit to publishing the full version of Ms Gray’s report, but No10 later declared that an ‘update’ would be issued.

The Metropolitan Police said officers were reviewing ‘at pace’ more than 300 images and 500 pages of information handed over by the Cabinet Office to work out who they need to question further.

Those individuals will be sent a series of questions by post or email before officers decide whether they should be fined for breaching Covid regulations.

Commander Catherine Roper said in a pooled broadcast interview that the fines in question would not be the penalties of thousands of pounds that were faced by some members of the public who organised large gatherings.

The Met confirmed they are investigating events on eight different dates at Downing Street and the Cabinet Office.

The first is May 20 2020, the day of the ‘bring your own booze’ party held after Number 10 official Martin Reynolds, emailed 100 members of staff inviting them to a drinks event.

Next is June 18 when there was a gathering at the Cabinet office on the departure of a No 10 private secretary; and June 19 when there was a get-together in the Cabinet room in No 10 Downing Street on the Prime Minister’s 56th birthday.

Also under the spotlight are events on November 13, the night of the departure of Dominic Cummings, the day when there was one gathering in the Downing Street flat and another in No 10 Downing Street.

Police are investigating dates which have been linked to Christmas parties in the Cabinet Office on December 17 and Downing Street on December 18, and leaving drinks for the former head of the Government’s Covid Taskforce Kate Josephs.

They are also looking at dates when drinks were held at Number 10 on January 14 on the departure of two private secretaries; and leaving events for James Slack, Mr Johnson’s former director of communications, and one of the Prime Minister’s personal photographers in Downing Street on April 16 2021, the day before the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral.

Mr Johnson is said to have been at his own birthday celebration, BYOB gathering, and two leaving dos for senior aides where he gave speeches.

Rishi Sunak could also be involved, as he is understood to have briefly attended the birthday ‘party’ – although it was breaking up as he entered the room to attend a Covid strategy meeting.

In a statement, the Met said: ‘Having received the documentation from the Cabinet Office on Friday 28 January, we are now reviewing it at pace to confirm which individuals will need to be contacted for their account. This prioritisation will include reviewing all the material from the Cabinet Office, which includes more than 300 images and over 500 pages of information.’

‘If following an investigation, officers believe it is appropriate, because the Covid regulations have been breached without a reasonable excuse, a fixed penalty notice would normally be issued. Once the penalty is paid, the matter is considered closed.

‘Alternatively individuals may decide to dispute the notice. In these circumstances officers will consider whether to pursue the matter in a magistrates’ court.’

The force addressed controversy over its request to Ms Gray to make minimal reference to the events under investigation in her update, saying: ‘In any investigation officers seek independent accounts from each individual, as free from the influence of others’ recollections as possible.

‘Officers would also seek to avoid providing details of their investigation in advance to those they contact, so that individuals are not tempted to shape their accounts according to what is in the public domain.

‘This is a standard approach in all investigations to ensure that how people engage with our investigation is not prejudiced, and not a judgment on the individuals who attended these specific events.’

In the document – which runs to just six pages plus annexes – Ms Gray said she is ‘extremely limited’ in what she could publish due to police requesting ‘minimal reference’ to incidents they are investigating.

And she made clear that she wants to release more information once Scotland Yard has completed its work – something No10 has so far refused to commit to.

Mr Johnson published the watered down ‘as received’ barely an hour before he started the Commons statement at 3.30pm. He will address a meeting of the Conservative parliamentary party at 6.30pm.

The report was worse than many MPs had expected, with rumours swirling at Westminster that key aides will have to fall on their swords.

Mr Johnson was previously said to feel ‘reassured’ that the threat of a successful coup against him by Tory backbenchers has receded.

But the crisis over Ukraine could overshadow the Partygate saga, with the premier visiting the country tomorrow and demanding Vladimir Putin steps back from the brink of invasion. Mr Johnson admitted in the Commons that he had been forced to delay a call to Mr Putin this evening. ‘I will be speaking to President Putin as soon as I can’

Mr Johnson has been assisted to some extent by glimmers of a recovery in the polls – although the Conservatives are still trailing Labour.

It has also emerged that police are likely to hand out any fixed penalty notices to lockdown breachers without making their names public – an approach that could limit embarrassment.

In other developments during more political chaos in Westminster:

Mr Johnson is expected to visit Ukraine tomorrow amid desperate efforts to defuse the standoff with Russia over Ukraine;
New government sanctions have been unveiled that could target oligarchs linked to Vladimir Putin;
Former Cabinet minister Lord Frost has dismissed suggestions he could become the PM’s new chief of staff in a ‘reset’ after the Partygate report, saying he does not agree with the national insurance hike;
Dominic Cummings has stepped up his attack on Mr Johnson branding him a ‘babbling f***wit’ and saying getting him out of No10 is like ‘fixing the drains’.

Boris Johnson said ‘sorry’ in the Commons today after being hit with damning revelations in the Sue Gray report

In a brutal intervention, Theresa May said Mr Johnson either ‘didn’t read the rules’ or thought they ‘didn’t apply’ to No10. ‘Which is it?’ she demanded

Ian Blackford was ordered to leave the House of Commons after accusing Boris Johnson of having ‘wilfully misled’ MPs over the Downing Street party allegations

A protest outside Downing Street in advance of the Partygate report, which was released today

Which Number 10 parties are being probed by the Metropolitan Police and which are not?

The Sue Gray update on the Partygate scandal has revealed the Metropolitan Police has launched formal probes into the overwhelming majority of alleged Covid rule-busting gatherings in Number 10 and Whitehall.

Below is a breakdown of which events are now subject to a criminal investigation and which have been deemed not to meet that threshold.

The gatherings which ARE being probed by the police

– May 20, 2020: BYOB garden party

The revelation came in an email, leaked to ITV, from senior civil servant Martin Reynolds to more than 100 Downing Street employees inviting them to ‘bring your own booze’ for an evening gathering.

The PM has admitted attending the gathering, but previously insisted he believed it was a work event which could ‘technically’ have been within the rules.

– June 18, 2020: Cabinet Office gathering

Ms Gray’s report revealed that a gathering in the Cabinet Office on this date is being investigated by the police. It has not previously been reported on.

The event was apparently held to mark the departure of a Number 10 private secretary.

– June 19, 2020: Birthday party for the PM

A Downing Street spokesman admitted staff ‘gathered briefly’ in the Cabinet Room after a meeting. A report from ITV News suggested up to 30 people attended and the PM was presented with a cake.

The broadcaster suggested the PM’s wife, Carrie Johnson, had organised the surprise get-together. Reports said Lulu Lytle, the interior designer behind lavish renovations of Mr and Mrs Johnson’s No 10 flat, briefly attended while undertaking work in Downing Street.

ITV News also reported that later the same evening, family and friends were hosted upstairs to further celebrate the Prime Minister’s 56th birthday in his official residence.

Number 10 previously said: ‘This is totally untrue. In line with the rules at the time the Prime Minister hosted a small number of family members outside that evening.’

The police probe relates specifically to the gathering in the Cabinet Room.

– November 13, 2020: Leaving party for senior aide

According to reports at the time, Mr Johnson gave a leaving speech for Lee Cain, his departing director of communications and a close ally of Mr Cummings.

– November 13, 2020: Johnsons’ flat party

There are allegations that the Prime Minister’s then fiancee hosted parties in their flat, with one such event said to have taken place on November 13 – the night Dominic Cummings departed Number 10.

A spokesman for Mrs Johnson has previously called the claim ‘total nonsense’.

– December 17, 2020: Cabinet Office ‘Christmas party’

A number of outlets reported that a gathering was held in the Cabinet Office on December 17.

The Times reported that Cabinet Secretary Simon Case attended the party in room 103 of the Cabinet Office, that it had been organised by a private secretary in Mr Case’s team, and that it was included in digital calendars as: ‘Christmas party!’

The Cabinet Office confirmed a quiz took place, but a spokesman said: ‘The Cabinet Secretary played no part in the event, but walked through the team’s office on the way to his own office.’

– December 17, 2020: Leaving drinks for former Covid Taskforce head

The former director-general of the Government’s Covid Taskforce said she was ‘truly sorry’ over an evening gathering in the Cabinet Office for her leaving drinks during coronavirus restrictions days before Christmas in 2020.

Kate Josephs, who is now chief executive of Sheffield City Council, said she gathered with colleagues who were in the office that day and added that she was co-operating with the Ms Gray’s probe.

– December 17, 2020: Number 10 leaving do

The Sue Gray update said the police are also probing a gathering in Downing Street held to mark the departure of a Number 10 official on December 17.

– December 18, 2020: Christmas party at Downing Street

The claim that kicked off the rule-breaking allegations is that a party was held for Downing Street staff on December 18.

Officials and advisers reportedly made speeches, enjoyed a cheese board, drank together and exchanged Secret Santa gifts, although the PM is not thought to have attended.

Mr Johnson’s spokeswoman, Allegra Stratton, quit after being filmed joking about it with fellow aides at a mock press conference.

– January 14, 2021: Number 10 leaving do for two staff members

A previously unreported gathering is being probed by the police. The Sue Gray update revealed an event in Downing Street for the departure of two Number 10 private secretaries is being looked at by the police.

– April 16, 2021: Drinks and dancing the night before the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral

The Telegraph reported that advisers and civil servants gathered after work for two separate events on the Friday night.

They were to mark the departure of James Slack, Mr Johnson’s former director of communications, and one of the Prime Minister’s personal photographers.

Mr Slack, who left his Number 10 role to become deputy editor-in-chief of The Sun newspaper, said he was sorry for the ‘anger and hurt’ caused by his leaving do, while Downing Street apologised to the Queen.

The Telegraph quoted a Number 10 spokesman as saying Mr Johnson was not in Downing Street that day and is said to have been at Chequers.

The newspaper reported accounts from witnesses who said alcohol was drunk and guests danced to music, adding that it had been told that around 30 people attended both events combined.

The four alleged parties which are not being investigated by the police

– May 15, 2020: Downing Street ‘cheese and wine’ party

The PM, his wife Carrie, former chief adviser Dominic Cummings, and Mr Johnson’s principal private secretary, Martin Reynolds, were all pictured, in a photograph leaked to The Guardian, sitting around a table in the Number 10 garden, with wine and cheese in front of them.

Some 15 other people were also in the photograph, but the Prime Minister has insisted this was a work meeting, saying: ‘Those were meetings of people at work, talking about work.’

– November 27, 2020: Second staff leaving do

The Mirror reported that the PM gave a farewell speech to an aide at the end of November while the lockdown in England was still in place.

Other reports have said the leaving do was for Cleo Watson, a senior Downing Street aide and ally of Mr Cummings.

– December 10, 2020: Department for Education party

The DfE confirmed a social event happened after The Mirror reported that former education secretary Gavin Williamson threw a party and delivered a short speech at an event organised at his department’s Whitehall headquarters.

A spokesman acknowledged that ‘it would have been better not to have gathered in this way at that particular time’.

– December 15, 2020: Downing Street quiz

The PM appeared on contestants’ screens at the quiz but has insisted he broke no rules.

An image published by the Sunday Mirror showed Mr Johnson flanked by two colleagues, one draped in tinsel and another wearing a Santa hat, in Number 10.

Downing Street admitted Mr Johnson ‘briefly’ attended the quiz after the photographic evidence emerged but insisted it was a virtual event.

The issues that could take the heat off Boris over Partygate

Russia threatening to invade Ukraine

Vladimir Putin has massed forces on the border of Ukraine, with the UK and US convinced an invasion is imminent.

Boris Johnson is expected to speak to Mr Putin later, and visit the region himself imminently.

Compulsory Covid vaccination for NHS staff

The government is preparing to U-turn on making vaccination mandatory for NHS staff.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid is due to make an announcement later this afternoon.

The topic has been a flashpoint with libertarian Tory MPs, and it will be a popular shift.

Cost of living crisis

Mr Johnson and Rishi Sunak have been desperately putting together a package that could ease the pain of soaring inflation and energy bills for families.

The PM and Chancellor finally seemed to kill off the idea of delaying the £12billion national insurance hike beyond April over the weekend.

Ministers have also played down the prospect of a ct to VAT on energy bills. But there is set to be more targeted support for the poorest households.

The Gray report warned that ‘excessive consumption of alcohol’ is not appropriate at the heart of government.

Her brutal conclusions stated: ‘Against the backdrop of the pandemic, when the Government was asking citizens to accept far-reaching restrictions on their lives, some of the behaviour surrounding these gatherings is difficult to justify.

‘At least some of the gatherings in question 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.

‘At times it seems there was too little thought given to what was happening across the country in considering the appropriateness of some of these gatherings, the risks they presented to public health and how they might appear to the public.

‘There were failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No 10 and the Cabinet Office at different times. Some of the events should not have been allowed to take place. Other events should not have been allowed to develop as they did.

She added: ‘The excessive consumption of alcohol is not appropriate in a professional workplace at any time. Steps must be taken to ensure that every Government Department has a clear and robust policy in place covering the consumption of alcohol in the workplace.’

Kicking off his statement, Mr Johnson said he accepted Ms Gray’s ‘general conclusions’.

‘Firstly, I want to say sorry – and I’m sorry for the things we simply didn’t get right and also sorry for the way this matter has been handled,’ he said.

‘It’s no use saying this or that was within the rules and it’s no use saying people were working hard. This pandemic was hard for everyone.’

He added: ‘I get it, and I will fix it. I want to say to the people of this country I know what the issue is.’

Rising to respond to Mr Johnson’s statement, Mrs May said: ‘The Covid regulations imposed significant restrictions on the freedoms of members of the public. They had a right to expect their Prime Minister to have read the rules, to understand the meaning of the rules and indeed those around him to have done so too and to set an example in following those rules.

‘What the Gray report does show is that Number 10 Downing Street was not observing the regulations they had imposed on members of the public, so either my right honourable friend had not read the rules or didn’t understand what they meant and others around him, or they didn’t think the rules applied to Number 10. Which was it?’

Grandee Bernard Jenkin (pictured standing centre left) warned that Tory MPs don’t need lessons on how to remove ‘failing’ leaders, suggesting Mr Johnson only has ‘months’ to show he can recover

‘By routinely breaking the rules he set, the Prime Minister took us all for fools, he held people’s sacrifice in contempt, he showed himself unfit for office,’ Sir Keir Starmer said

House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle asks SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford to retract a statement

Labour MP Jess Phillips responding to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s statement to MPs in the House of Commons

Ian Blackford was ordered to leave the House of Commons after accusing Boris Johnson of having ‘wilfully misled’ MPs over the Downing Street party allegations. The SNP Westminster leader was repeatedly asked by Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to withdraw the claim, as it is considered against parliamentary etiquette to make such an assertion

Drama as SNP leader is ordered out of Commons for accusing PM of misleading MPs

Ian Blackford was ordered to leave the House of Commons after accusing Boris Johnson of having ‘wilfully misled’ MPs over the Downing Street party allegations.

The SNP Westminster leader was repeatedly asked by Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to withdraw the claim, as it is considered against parliamentary etiquette to make such an assertion.

Mr Blackford replied that the Prime Minister ‘may have inadvertently misled the House’, but Sir Lindsay asked: ‘To help me help the House, you’ve withdrawn your earlier comment and replaced it with inadvertently?’

Mr Blackford replied: ‘It’s not my fault if the Prime Minister can’t be trusted to tell the truth.’

Amid raucous shouting from the Tory benches, the Speaker said: ‘Under the power given to me by standing order number 43 I order the honourable member to withdraw immediately from the House.’

Mr Blackford walked out of the chamber before the Speaker had finished, with Sir Lindsay noting: ‘It’s all right, we don’t need to bother.’

Earlier, Mr Blackford had said: ‘So here we have it. The long-awaited Sue Gray report, what a farce.

‘It was carefully engineered to be a fact-finding exercise, with no conclusions. Now we find it’s a fact-finding exercise with no facts.

‘So let’s talk facts. The Prime Minister has told the House that all guidance was completely followed, there was no party, Covid rules were followed and that ‘I believed it was a work event’.

‘Nobody, nobody believed it then. And nobody, nobody believes you now, Prime Minister. That is the crux, no ifs, no buts, he has wilfully misled Parliament.’

Mr Johnson replied: ‘No, that is not what the Gray report says, I suggest that she waits to see the conclusion of the inquiry.’

Soon afterwards Mr Mitchell waded in, saying: ‘Does he recall that ever since he joined the party’s candidates list 30 years ago until we got him into Number 10 he has enjoyed my full-throated support?

‘But I am deeply concerned by these events and very concerned indeed by some of the things he has said from that despatch box and has said to the British public and our constituents.

‘When he kindly invited me to see him 10 days ago, I told him that I thought he should think very carefully about what was now in the best interests of our country and of the Conservative Party, and I have to tell him he no longer enjoys my support.’

The Prime Minister replied: ‘I must tell him respectfully, my right honourable friend, great though the admiration is that I have of him, I simply think that he is mistaken in his views and urge him to reconsider upon full consideration of the inquiry.’

Mr Johnson repeatedly failed to commit to publish the Sue Gray report in full once the police investigation has concluded.

Conservative former chief whip Mark Harper told the Commons: ‘The question here is whether those who make the law, obey the law. That’s pretty fundamental.

‘Many have questioned, including my constituents, the Prime Minister’s honesty, integrity and fitness to hold that office. In judging him he rightly asked us to wait for all the facts.

‘Sue Gray has made it clear in her update today that she couldn’t produce a meaningful report with the facts.

‘So could I ask the Prime Minister the question (Labour MP Diane Abbott) asked him and to which he didn’t give an answer: when Sue Gray produces all of the facts in her full report after the police investigation, will he commit to publish it immediately and in full?’

Mr Johnson replied: ‘What we’ve got to do is wait for the police to conclude their inquiries, that is the proper thing to do. People have given all sorts of evidence in the expectation that it would not necessarily be published, at that stage I will take a decision about what to publish.’

One of the most pointed remarks came from usually-loyal backbencher Sir Bernard Jenkin. Sir Bernard noted that the ‘back benches of the Conservative Party need no reminders about how to dispose of a failing leader’.

And he suggested that Mr Johnson has only ‘months’ to show he can get No10 into shape.

‘Can he also, when he is restructuring Number 10, concentrate on the fact that the country wants results, we can’t see the point of such a large Number 10 super-structure, that it needs to be slimmed down and streamlined, and can I commend his determination to restore cabinet government and it is on results over the next few months on which he will be judged,’ he said.

The PM was earlier lashed by Tories as he delivered a half-apology after the Sue Gray report condemned ‘failures of leadership and judgment’ in Downing Street

Mr Johnson replied: ‘I’m more than content to be judged on the results, what we’ve already delivered and the results that we will deliver.’

Conservative MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme Mr Bell spoke emotionally about his grandmother’s lockdown funeral.

Cummings brands Boris a ‘babbling f***wit’ who hasn’t ‘got the balls’ to stand up to wife Carrie in latest brutal attack

Dominic Cummings has branded Boris Johnson a ‘babbling f***wit’ who has not ‘got the balls’ to stand up to his ‘forceful’ wife Carrie.

In a rare interview, the former No10 chief swiped that the PM saw himself as a ‘king’ or ‘Roman emperor’ and only cared about big infrastructure projects that would act as monuments to himself.

But he swiped that in reality the Tory leader was a ‘f***wit’ obsessed with ‘babbling’ to the media rather than ‘important’ policy problems.

Mr Cummings said Mrs Johnson had been running a ‘disastrous’ shadow briefing regime from their No11 flat, and his former boss was unable to tell her ‘I’m prime minister’.

The intervention, in an interview with New York magazine, came as Mr Johnson awaited the verdict of top civil servant Sue Gray and the police on Partygate allegations.

Mr Cummings has been instrumental in stoking the crisis for the PM, having highlighted a series of potential lockdown breaches at No10.

He told the magazine that he viewed getting rid of Mr Johnson as ‘an unpleasant but necessary job’. ‘It’s like sort of fixing the drains,’ he said.

The maverick ex-adviser said Mr Johnson had been useful for delivering Brexit and defeating Jeremy Corbyn in 2019.

‘But after that what’s the point of him and Carrie just rattling around in there and f***ing everything up for everyone and not doing the job properly?’ he added.

Downing Street declined to comment on the latest attack from Mr Johnson’s former ally.

‘It seems a lot of people attended events in May 2020 – the one I recall attending was my grandmother’s funeral,’ he said.

‘She was a wonderful woman. As well as a love for her family she served her community as a councillor and she served Dartford Conservative Association loyally for many years.

‘I drove for three hours from Staffordshire to Kent, there were only 10 at the funeral, many people who loved her had to watch online.

‘I didn’t hug my siblings, I didn’t hug my parents, I gave the eulogy and then afterwards I didn’t even go to her house for cup of tea. I drove back three hours from Kent to Staffordshire. Does the Prime Minister think I’m a fool?’

Mr Johnson replied: ‘No, and I want to thank (him) and I want to say how deeply I sympathise with him and his family for their loss, and all I can say is again that I’m very, very sorry for misjudgments that may have been made by me or anybody else in Number 10 and the Cabinet Office.’

Conservative Duncan Baker said: ‘North Norfolk consistently had some of the lowest levels of infection in the country. We followed the rules.

‘So many of my constituents have been incensed, the damage that this is doing to the Government is enormous. It is about integrity and trust.

‘Can I ask again, because people want to know, how can the Prime Minister now satisfy my constituents and assure me that full accountability and transparency on the findings of the final Gray report will swiftly follow?’

Earlier, Sir Keir told MPs: ‘By routinely breaking the rules he set, the Prime Minister took us all for fools, he held people’s sacrifice in contempt, he showed himself unfit for office.

‘His desperate denials since he was exposed have only made matters worse. Rather than come clean, every step of the way he’s insulted the public’s intelligence.

‘And now he’s finally fallen back on his usual excuse: it’s everybody’s fault but his. They go, he stays. Even now he is hiding behind a police investigation into criminality in his home and his office.

‘He gleefully treats what should be a mark of shame as a welcome shield. But Prime Minister, the British public aren’t fools, they never believed a word of it, they think the Prime Minister should do the decent thing and resign.

‘Of course he won’t because he is a man without shame and just as he has done throughout his life, he’s damaged everyone and everything around him along the way.’

Ms Gray’s report said: ‘The use of the garden at No 10 Downing Street should be primarily for the Prime Minister and the private residents of No 10 and No 11 Downing Street.

‘During the pandemic it was often used as an extension of the workplace as a more covid secure means of holding group meetings in a ventilated space.

‘This was a sensible measure that staff appreciated, but the garden was also used for gatherings without clear authorisation or oversight.

‘This was not appropriate. Any official access to the space, including for meetings, should be by invitation only and in a controlled environment.’

Three new gatherings not previously revealed were included in Sue Gray’s investigations.

These were a gathering in the Cabinet Office on June 18, 2020, to mark the leaving of a No10 private secretary, a third gathering on December 17, 2020 – on top of two already reported – to mark the departure of a No 10 official in Downing Street, and a new event on January 14, 2021, also in No 10, when two private secretaries left.

Two previously reported gatherings were not included in her inquiry.

These were drinks held at the Treasury on November 25, 2020 and drinks at the Department for Transport on December 16, 2020.

On the Treasury drinks, a spokesman said at the time: ‘We have been made aware that a small number of those staff had impromptu drinks around their desks after the event.’

A DfT spokesperson said: ‘Fewer than a dozen staff who were working in the office had a low-key, socially distanced gathering in the large open-plan office after work on December 16, where food and drink was consumed.

‘We recognise this was inappropriate and apologise for the error of judgment.’

Asked before the publication why the release has so far been characterised as an ‘update’, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘It’s a reflection of the fact there is an ongoing police investigation and the Met have been clear about what their expectations are about what can or cannot be put in the public domain while that’s ongoing.’

Push on whether more would be published in future, he said: ‘Obviously we will need to consider what might be appropriate and we are discussing with the Cabinet Office team in due course about what might be appropriate, but at the moment it is unclear how the ongoing Met Police investigation might interact with any further work on that. But obviously it’s something we will want to keep under review.’

Pressed on whether the public will see a fuller report after the Met investigation, the spokesman said: ‘That’s one of the things I can’t confirm at this point simply because we need to discuss that with the Met and others about what is suitable.’

Before the publication, Will Walden, who advised Mr Johnson during his time as London mayor, said Mr Johnson had ‘used up quite a lot of lives’ on Partygate but the report had ‘landed pretty well for him’.

He told BBC Radio 4’s The World At One programme: ‘It’s a mess. It’s probably bad for democracy but inadvertently good for the PM.

‘He’s used up quite a lot of lives over this but I think it’s landed pretty well for him.

‘I think he has the benefit of seeing what appears to be a heavily redacted report, he doesn’t have long to respond but he’s responding to frankly what is going to be not a lot. And I suspect that can only help him.’

Nikka da Costa, Mr Johnson’s former director of legislative affairs, voiced disbelief at No10 refusing to confirm that Ms Gray’s full report will be published at a later date.

She predicted that if Downing Street tried to block the release Labour would call an Opposition Day debate.

‘Then MPs will be whipped to oppose? And how will that be portrayed publicly? What is the strategy behind this line?’ she tweeted.

Ms da Costa wrote in The Times overnight that the PM had shot down plans to allow bereaved families to set up bubbles with their close relatives when last year’s lockdown restrictions began to ease over fears it would ‘send the wrong message to the public’.

Costa said the veto came just weeks before Downing Street staff held two booze-filled leaving parties on the night before the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral.

The former No10 official said she was ‘angry’ when she hears allies of Mr Johnson to ‘get a sense of proportion’ in response to allegations of No10 parties.

‘If we in No 10 could be that hard-hearted because we thought it was the right thing to do, then those involved in those kinds of decisions also owed it to the country to be as hard on themselves and their own conduct,’ Costa wrote.

She added: ‘If No 10 failed in that as a collective, as it seems clear, it needs to be recognised as a failure of and by those at the top.’

The Mail on Sunday revealed that as part of her inquiry into socialising in Mr Johnson’s No 10 flat, Ms Gray has been told about a ‘victory party’ held by friends of Carrie.

The bash allegedly happened on the night of November 13, 2020, after Dominic Cummings had left with his belongings in a box.

He had allegedly lost a power struggle with the then Ms Symonds and other advisers.

‘There was the sound of lots of banging and dancing and drinking, and a number of Abba tracks – including a triumphalist Winner Takes It All,’ a source said.

A spokesman for Mrs Johnson said: ‘It is totally untrue to suggest Mrs Johnson held a party in the Downing Street flat on November 13, 2020.’

Ministers including Tory chairman Oliver Dowden were seen going in and out of Downing Street today as tension rose

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps (left) and Environment Secretary George Eustice were also in No10 amid signs of frantic activity behind the scenes

Nikka da Costa, Mr Johnson’s former director of legislative affairs, voiced disbelief at No10 refusing to confirm that Ms Gray’s full report will be published at a later date

There are fledgling signs of a Tory recovery in the polls – although the Conservatives are still trailing Labour

Mr Johnson arriving back at Downing Street yesterday after spending the weekend at his Chequers residence

It has been claimed that a tipsy Downing Street staffer boasted to police that they ‘we’re the only ones allowed to party’ as they left one gathering.

A witness is claimed to have reported the jibe to Ms Gray’s inquiry, according to the Sun.

Last week the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick announced officers have launched a criminal inquiry after assessing a dossier of evidence compiled by Ms Gray.

But the force has clarified it is looking at potential Covid breaches that are dealt with by fixed-term penalty notices.

The Times highlighted that staff are unlikely to be publicly identified if they accept a penalty notice and do not contest the breach in court.

Under police guidance, individuals are only named if they are charged and expected to appear in court.

Scotland Yard admitted last week it had asked Whitehall’s ethics tsar to ‘water down’ her document while the force conducts a criminal probe that may not conclude for months.

The highly controversial move has seen Metropolitan Police chief Cressida Dick accused of ‘an abuse of power’ by ‘interfering’ with the investigation and demanding that Miss Gray remove key details which are central to the row over ‘parties’ in No10.

Boris Johnson will visit Ukraine TOMORROW in show of support for nation as he urges Vladimir Putin to ‘step back from the brink’ of invasion

Boris Johnson will visit Ukraine tomorrow in a show of support for the country – after warning Vladimir Putin to ‘step back from the brink’ of invasion.

Downing Street confirmed that the Prime Minister would sidestep the fallout from the Sue Gray Partygate report by travelling to Kyiv for talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday.

That journey, made with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, will take place after an expected phone call with Putin today, as tens of thousands of Russian troops maintain their position close to the Ukraine border.

Fears of an imminent Russian incursion in Ukraine have grown in recent days, despite denials from Moscow and pleas from Zelensky to avoid stirring ‘panic’ over the military build-up on the border.

Mr Johnson said today he will reiterate that an invasion would be ‘bitterly and bloodily resisted’ by Kiev’s forces – as well as having major repercussions internationally.

Speaking to reporters in Essex this morning, Mr Johnson said: ‘What I will say to President Putin, as I have said before, is that I think we really all need to step back from the brink.

‘I think Russia needs to step back from the brink. I think that an invasion of Ukraine, any incursion into Ukraine beyond the territory that Russia has already taken in 2014 would be an absolute disaster for the world, and above all it would be a disaster for Russia.’

Boris Johnson will urge Vladimir Putin to ‘step back from the brink’ in Ukraine today as he prepares to visit the region

Ukrainian civilians train to resist a Russian invasion over the weekend

Nato powers have been urging Mr Putin (pictured last week) to step back from confrontation

As well as visiting Ukraine, the Foreign Secretary will head on to Moscow for talks.

Diplomatic efforts are ramping up as Putin-backing oligarchs were warned there will be ‘nowhere to hide’ from new UK sanctions.

The Foreign Office is set to announce details of enhanced measures that could be used against ‘strategic interests’ of the Russian state.

Targets could include financial institutions and energy firms as well as Mr Putin’s wealthy supporters.

Meanwhile, former MI6 chief Sir John Sawers has insisted Russia can be deterred from pushing ahead with an invasion if the West makes clear there will be ‘costs’.

‘It took all that time to produce EIGHT pages’: Anger and mockery as long-awaited Sue Gray report on No10 partygate is published (and is just as lacking in detail as many predicted)

Britons today mocked the long-awaited Sue Gray report into Downing Street parties during lockdown for being a ‘whitewash’, with one tweeting: ‘You mean it took Sue Gray all that time just to produce 8 pages of content?’

A limited version of the senior civil servant’s report into the parties held between May 2020 and April 2021 was published today and condemned a ‘serious failure’ to observe the high standards expected of those working at the heart of Government.

Social media users had earlier jokingly predicted that some of the report – which was issued at about 2.20pm today – would say ‘this page is left intentionally blank’. In reality, the second page actually stated: ‘This page intentionally blank’.

Others used the ‘I dunno, I think that’s a bit dodgy mate’ Inbetweeners meme when summarising the report as a ‘TLDR’ version – meaning ‘too long; didn’t read’.

Addressing angry MPs in the House of Commons today, Mr Johnson told MPs he will overhaul the operation in Downing Street and the Cabinet Office to address the concerns raised in the report, adding: ‘I get it and I will fix it.’

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford was ordered to leave the Commons for failing to withdraw claims that the Prime Minister had misled the House.

Ms Gray has been working on the report since December 17 last year, meaning it has taken more than six weeks to be published.

The Cabinet Office said that Ms Gray had provided an ‘update’ on her investigation to the Prime Minister, suggesting it was not the full report she was preparing before the Metropolitan Police intervened. Scotland Yard last week asked Ms Gray to make only ‘minimal reference’ to gatherings being investigated by its officers.

Downing Street has so far refused to commit to publishing a fuller version of Ms Gray’s findings once the police investigation has concluded.

The version of Ms Gray’s report published online said ‘it seems there was too little thought given to what was happening across the country in considering the appropriateness of some of these gatherings, the risks they presented to public health and how they might appear to the public’.

The Downing Street garden was used for gatherings ‘without clear authorisation or oversight’ in a way that was ‘not appropriate’. The report reveals 12 events are being investigated by the police, including a gathering in the Downing Street flat and an event to mark Boris Johnson’s birthday in June 2020.

Here are some of the best memes posted following its publication this afternoon:

Earlier, Britons raised concerns over a ‘whitewash’ today after Sue Gray finally handed Boris Johnson a version of her inquiry into allegations of lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street

. People took to social media to share joke images surrounding the news such as a ’50 Shades of Sue Gray’ spoof, and a Hermes ‘sorry we missed you’ delivery note.

Others posted pictures of a completely-redacted piece of paper and the popular Titanic ‘it’s been 84 years’ meme in a gag about how long the report has taken.

And here are some of the memes posted before the report was revealed:

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