Boris Johnson apologises in wake of Sue Gray report as Met police given 300 photos linked to No 10 parties

January 31, 2022

1.20pm EST

13:20

No 10 says Sue Gray will be given chance to publish full partygate findings

Andrew Sparrow

A few minutes ago Downing Street issued a statement saying Sue Gray will be given chance to publish her findings in full once the police inquiry is over. A No 10 spokesperson said:

Given the police have said they are investigating a number of events, it would not be appropriate to comment further while the Met’s investigation is ongoing.

But, at the end of the process, the prime minister will ask Sue Gray to update her work in light of what is found. He will publish that update.

However, the prime minister is clear we must not judge an ongoing investigation and his focus now is on addressing the general findings.

This is a significant shift from the position set out earlier, at the morning and afternoon lobby briefings, and by the PM in the chamber. Johnson, who is due to address his MPs in private later this evening, clearly realised that failing to commit to the publication of the Gray report in full after the police inquiry is over was unsustainable.

This will lessen the anger of some Conservative MPs this evening. But it means any hope of burying the most incriminating partygate findings has gone. Earlier No 10 did seem to think that might be a possible escape route.

(Unless the police inquiry results in cases going to court, which is not usual for lockdown offences, it will just lead to people being fined. In these cases the police do not have to release their evidence. It is no even clear if we will ever find out the names of all those fined.)

That is all from me for today. My colleague Jedidajah Otte is now taking over.

Updated
at 1.22pm EST

1.03pm EST

13:03

Johnson’s statement to MPs – verdict

Boris Johnson is famous for his reluctance to apologise. But in the past, under pressure, he has on occasion made an effort to sound apologetic or contrite about his conduct, as he did when speaking about partygate at PMQs almost three weeks ago. But today, when faced with a report showing that 12 events in Downing Street or the Cabinet Office, including one in his own flat, are under investigation by the police as potential “flagrant” breaches of lockdown rules (see 3.08pm), he could barely maintain the apologetic tone for more than about a minute. Instead he claimed the police investigation absolved him of the need to answer detailed questions, and he resorted to smearing the opposition and making hackneyed boasts about delivery.

Even by Johnson’s standards, it was tone deaf. “I get it and I will fix it,” he said in his opening statement. But he implied the problem was a machinery of government one, not one relating to leadership or standards. And the long-promised shake-up of No 10 sounded like little more than a change to the departmental name at the top of the notepaper. (See 3.56pm.)

Perhaps the reporting in the Sunday Times yesterday about the threat of an imminent no confidence vote fading (see 9.42am) has lulled him into a false sense of security. Keir Starmer’s response may have sounded a tad pious to some, but it was compelling, and delivered with much more sincerity than Johnson’s initial apology. It was probably much closer to where public opinion lies. (See 4.23pm.)

Despite the support for some Tory MPs, on the basis of that performance Johnson’s position is probably less secure than it was first thing this morning. Perhaps the most worrying development for him is what we have learned about the extent of the partygate evidence now sitting with the police. Sue Gray interviewed more than 70 witnesses, and the police have 500 pages of documents, as well as 300 photos. Allegations of law breaking are not going to go away soon.

Updated
at 1.24pm EST

12.36pm EST

12:36

At the afternoon lobby briefing the prime minister’s spokesman said No 10 was “looking to finalise the time” for Boris Johnson’s call with Vladimir Putin. (See 5.11am.) The spokesman said:

It’s not unusual for timings with world leaders to change and you will appreciate the control of the timing for the receipt of this report rightly [was] with Sue Gray and her team, and the prime minister had committed to come to the house to make an update.

12.30pm EST

12:30

The statement from Johnson has just finished. Here are comments from three journalists what he’s said.

From ITV’s Robert Peston

Robert Peston
(@Peston)

The PM is taking a huge personal risk in rejecting Tory MP demands to publish Sue Gray’s more definitive “full” report – because he is removing from them any incentive to delay their decisions to send in letters of no confidence in his leadership

January 31, 2022

From Newsnight’s Lewis Goodall

Lewis Goodall
(@lewis_goodall)

PM is getting some support from his benches. The fact you have so many Tory MPs effectively saying he should resign, or saying he has insulted their constituents and then some loudly rallying to his banner speaks to just how toxic this could become to internal Tory politics.

January 31, 2022

From Byline Times’ Adam Bienkov

Adam Bienkov
(@AdamBienkov)

So in summary Boris Johnson’s response to the Sue Gray report has been to:

– Repeat a far-right smear associating the leader of the opposition with a paedophile.
– Accuse the Labour front bench of being on drugs.
– Talk about freeports.

January 31, 2022

Here is a Reuters fact check on the claim that Keir Starmer was to blame for the decision not to prosecute Jimmy Savile. The claim is false, it says. “There is no evidence to suggest Sir Keir Starmer, then DPP of the CPS, was directly involved in the decision not to prosecute Jimmy Savile,” it says.

12.23pm EST