UK Politics

No 10 has received the long-awaited report by senior civil servant Sue Gray into the Partygate scandal, the Cabinet Office has confirmed.“We can confirm that Sue Gray has provided her final report to the prime minister,” a spokesperson said on Wednesday morning.The findings of the inquiry — first launched in December — will soon be made public by Downing Street, before Boris Johnson addresses MPs in the Commons.It comes after the Metropolitan Police concluded its own investigation into breaches of the Covid regulations in Downing Street last week, with the force issuing 126 fixed penalty notices.Both the prime minister and the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, received fines for attending a birthday gathering in the Cabinet Room of No 10 in June 2020 during England’s first national lockdown.Ms Gray is expected to be highly critical of the culture in Downing Street which led to the repeated violations of Covid restrictions over the course of 2020 and 2021.The report is also expected to criticise cabinet secretary Simon Case, but he has made clear he will not be resigning and the prime minister will not sack him.Published in January, Ms Gray’s heavily redacted interim update, she said at times “there was too little thought given to what was happening across the county in considering” the risks of gatherings to public health.“There were failures of leadership and judgement by different parts of No 10 and the Cabinet Office at different times,” she added.“Some of the events should not have been allowed to take place. Other events should not have been allowed to develop as they did”. More

The British government says a long-awaited report into lockdown-breaching parties in government offices has been handed to Prime Minister Boris Johnson. It is due to be published later Wednesday, and Johnson will address Parliament on its findings.Johnson’s future may hinge on the conclusions of senior civil servant Sue Gray. She investigated 16 gatherings attended by Johnson and his staff in 2020 and 2021 while people in the U.K. were barred from socializing under coronavirus restrictions imposed by Johnson’s Conservative government.A separate police investigation saw 83 people hit with fines, including Johnson — making him the first British prime minister ever found to have broken the law while in office.Johnson has apologized, but insisted that he didn’t knowingly break the rules. That is hard to square with accounts by staffers of “bring your own booze” parties and regular “wine time Fridays” in the prime minister’s 10 Downing St. office at the height of the pandemic.In his statement to Parliament, Johnson will have to explain why he told lawmakers last year that no parties were held in Downing Street and no rules were broken.Critics, some of them inside Johnson’s Conservative Party, say the prime minister lied to Parliament — traditionally a resigning matter.Claims that Johnson and his staff enjoyed illegal office parties while millions in the country were prevented from seeing friends and family in 2020 and 2021 have dogged the government since they first surfaced late last year.Johnson has clung on to power so far, partly because Russia’s invasion of Ukraine diverted public and political attention. Some Conservatives who had considered seeking a no-confidence vote in their leader said it would be rash to push Johnson out in the middle of a war that is destabilizing Europe and fueling a cost-of-living crisis.Johnson got a further reprieve when the Metropolitan Police told him last week that he wouldn’t be getting any more fines, even though he attended several events under investigation.Environment Secretary George Eustice defended the prime minister on Wednesday, but acknowledged that the “boundary between what was acceptable and what wasn’t got blurred, and that was a mistake.”“The prime minister himself has accepted that and recognizes there were of course failings and therefore there’s got to be some changes to the way the place is run,” he told Times Radio. More

A new study has revealed that people in the UK are more likely than those in any other European nation to declare that their government “ignores rules”.In the wake of Boris Johnson’s Partygate scandal, a large EU-funded study across six states in Europe showed that 62 per cent of people in the UK think their government ignores rules and procedures.In Poland, where the administration has often been accused of authoritarianism, 50 per cent of the respondents believed that their government has no regard for the rules. The study was conducted by King’s College London (KCL). It surveyed 12,000 people in the UK, Poland, Ireland, Italy, Germany, and Norway this January.People in both Poland and the UK felt that their government’s values were different from theirs and that their governments also usually ignored people like them. The respondents were also more likely than not to believe that their government acts unfairly towards people like them.According to the study, 66 per cent of people in the UK and 70 per cent in Poland felt their government was not well respected.The respondents were also asked about their attitudes towards media in their countries. In the UK, 31 per cent of the public said they felt negatively towards news and media organisations.In Poland, the media was similarly viewed in a poor light. At least 32 per cent of respondents said they viewed the media negatively.At least 37 per cent of the people in the UK — the highest proportion of people among the six states surveyed — said that their feelings towards the EU were negative. The six-country average on this question was 26 per cent.The study’s release comes amid the so-called Partygate scandal of Downing Street parties in Whitehall during the coronavirus lockdown. Senior civil servant Sue Gray’s full report into the allegations was expected to be published later on Wednesday.“None of the countries in the study does particularly well, with large proportions in each saying they’re cautious in trusting their government, disagreeing that they are honest, truthful and provide unbiased information – although people do tend to be more positive in Norway and Germany than other nations,” Professor Bobby Duffy, director of the Policy Institute at KCL, told The Guardian.He continued: “The key point of difference that stands out in the UK is that six in 10 say the government ‘ignores rules and procedures’, compared with an average of 44 per cent across the countries as a whole and only 34 per cent in Norway – which will likely reflect the widespread coverage of ‘Partygate’.”Mr Duffy added that it was important to “focus on rebuilding this perception, as it could affect the legitimacy of government and the public’s willingness to comply with the rules themselves”. More

Downing Street has prepared a response in anticipation of the resignation of top civil servant Simon Case over Sue Gray’s report into Partygate. The planning document, seen by The Independent, comes despite the findings from Ms Gray’s report into lockdown-busting parties across Whitehall and Westminster not yet having been made public. The findings are also not meant to have been shared with No 10 at this stage. The drafted letter notes Mr Case’s contributions during the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. It also notes he took on the role from Sir Mark Sedwill in September 2020, when the country was in the midst of facing Covid, its greatest challenge since the Second World War. The preparations in No 10 have emerged after weekend news reports suggested Mr Case, Britain’s most senior civil servant, would become a scapegoat for No 10 in the aftermath of the Partygate probe. An exclusive poll for The Independent found two-third of voters believe Mr Johnson should resign if he is heavily criticised by Ms Gray’s report.Downing Street did not respond to a request for comment ahead of publication. Ms Gray’s full report could be made public as soon as Wednesday. Fresh claims of chaotic lockdown parties and all-night drinking at No 10 have piled further pressure on the PM as the publication of the report looms.Former staffers described “wine-time Friday” drinking sessions which left bins overflowing with empty bottles. More

The Treasury is understood to be finalising plans for a new windfall tax on energy firms that would be used to help those who are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.Boris Johnson is reportedly poised to announce a multibillion-pound package of measures to alleviate some of the pressures facing households across the country, who are being hit with the soaring cost of energy and food.The move has previously been suggested by Labour and some senior Tories, but has until now been resisted by ministers. The Times said measures which could be introduced include increases in the warm homes discount, winter fuel allowance and a cut in council tax, while a VAT cut is said to be being mooted.Downing Street is hoping the announcement will take the heat off the prime minister following the publication of Sue Gray’s full report into Partygate, which is expected on Wednesday.Earlier on Tuesday, the energy minister, Kwasi Kwarteng, said a windfall tax on energy companies was not necessarily the right way to fund help for consumers struggling with the rising cost of living.When asked if he supported a windfall tax, he told a parliamentary committee: “I have been very clear about a windfall tax: I don’t think it supports investment, I don’t think it’s necessarily the right thing.”However he stressed any decision would be for the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, to make. More

Ministers would no longer be able to keep secret the full details of free holidays and free tickets to major events, under a crackdown demanded by MPs.Concern has been growing after Boris Johnson was able to dodge fully declaring his stay at a luxury villa owned by Zac Goldsmith, while Priti Patel was late revealing her trip to a James Bond premiere.Now the Commons standards committee wants “the ministerial exemption” – which allows hospitality to be declared separately from that enjoyed by other MPs – to be scrapped from the autumn.However, the government is expected to resist the overhaul, having rejected the call last year when it argued it was “appropriate that there are different rules”.The recommendation is among a package of measures to crack down on “sleaze” sparked in part by last year’s scandals that engulfed the Tory MPs Owen Paterson and Geoffrey Cox.There should be ban on MPs acting as consultants, providing “paid parliamentary advice or strategy services” – as around 35, mainly Conservative MPs, have done – the Commons standards committee report says.That is supported by the government, which also floated a ceiling on hours worked or earnings made before rejecting that as unworkable, a view shared by the committee.Other recommendations, intended to be voted on in the Commons by July, include:Ban MPs from talking with ministers, or in debates, in a way that would benefit someone who has paid them – on top of the existing rule that they should not “initiate” approaches or debates.Require MPs to have a written contract for any outside work, making explicit the ban on lobbying ministers or public officials, or providing advice on influencing parliament.Make the Register of Members’ Interests more “transparent and searchable” – possibly updating it more frequently than every two weeks, as it is currently.Toughen the Seven Principles of Public Life to state that MPs should “exemplify anti-discriminatory attitudes in their own behaviour”.The committee hopes the crackdown will cut the number of “freebies” accepted by ministers (once full declaration is required) and MPs (facing tougher restrictions on speaking in debates).Last October, Mr Johnson stayed at the Spanish villa of Lord Goldsmith – his environment minister – but the stay was not declared on the Commons register within 28 days, as normally required.Instead, the prime minister exploited the rule that allows hospitality “received in a member’s capacity as a minister” to be released by that minister’s department, without revealing the value of it.The home secretary provoked ridicule when she claimed she attended the No Time To Die premiere last September because her job requires knowing about spies – declaring it only five months later.There was also controversy when some of the approximately 20 MPs who accepted £900 hospitality at last year’s Brit Awards failed to register it, because they are ministers.Chris Bryant, the committee’s chair, urged Mr Johnson not to reject any of the recommendations, warning “the public cares passionately about standards in parliament.“Every generation of MPs holds membership of the house in trust for the next generation. It can either burnish the house’s reputation or tarnish it,” he said. More

No 10 is poised to unveil measures aimed at easing the cost of living crisis in order to offset public anger over the Sue Gray Partygate report.The communications grid — the planning document used by government spin doctors — includes an extension to the warm homes discount. An announcement on the measure, which could come later this week, is expected to be worth hundreds of pounds to some households.Ministers believe that publication soon after the release of the Partygate report could help cast a more positive light on the government’s activities.It was held back in order to give the prime minister a “soft landing”, a Downing Street insider told The Independent.The intervention is set to come after Jonathan Brearley, chief executive of energy regulator Ofgem, told MPs the price cap would rise from £1,971 to £2,800 a year in October.The drive to try and reboot Mr Johnson’s premiership comes after the government spending watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) revealed that unemployment benefits are set to fall by £12bn this year after accounting for inflation.The warm home discount is a one-off payment, aimed at low-income households or pensioners. It is normally delivered as a discount on an energy bill.The prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “This has been a long-standing challenge both in the UK and globally, so I would refute any suggestion that timings would be used in that way. I’m unable to give you a steer on the possible timeframe, not least because nothing has been decided.”It was not necessarily the case that the cabinet would have to meet to approve details of any package before it was announced, the spokesperson said, though they noted that ministers did not discuss specific plans at Tuesday’s meeting.“The information that’s been set out today – albeit indicative – is an important factor in deciding what challenges the public are going to face in October when this rise is due to come in, and therefore helps with planning,” he added.The combination of fresh analysis from the OBR and the news of the likely sharp increase in energy bills this autumn by Ofgem paint a grim picture for the remainder of the year, according to Trades Union Congress.General secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Millions of families are already at breaking point. But now they face even more bill hikes, while ministers do nothing to make sure wages and universal credit keep pace.“The chancellor must provide more help to families now. We need an emergency budget – it’s time to get on with it.” More

Fresh claims of chaotic lockdown parties and all-night drinking at No 10 have emerged as Boris Johnson braces himself for the publication of the potentially explosive Sue Gray report.Former staffers described “wine-time Fridays” where bins would overflow with empty bottles, adding to the pressure on the prime minister as the report is expected to be published as early as Wednesday.And an exclusive Savanta poll for The Independent found that two-thirds (66 per cent) of voters believe Mr Johnson should resign if he is heavily criticised. In findings that will trouble anxious Conservative MPs, more than a quarter (26 per cent) of those who backed the Tories in 2019 said they were less likely to do so again if Mr Johnson remains leader.The figures were scarcely reduced from the height of the Partygate furore in January, and suggested that Mr Johnson has earned little credit from voters for escaping with only one £50 fine from the Metropolitan Police inquiry.One Tory critic of the PM said it was “urgent” that MPs submit letters of no confidence, while another said it was clear the prime minister was now an “electoral liability”.A series of No 10 insiders told BBC’s Panorama that they felt the gatherings were condoned by the prime minister, as he was “grabbing a glass for himself”.They said Downing Street would be left a “mess” after the events, with some revellers staying overnight.They said the culture was set by Mr Johnson himself, claiming he “wanted to be liked” and for staff to be able to “let their hair down”.It came after a leaked photograph showed Mr Johnson raising a glass at a leaving do for former spin doctor Lee Cain eight days after the implementation of England’s second lockdown.Amid growing backbench concern about the impact of Partygate, one senior MP told The Independent: “The whole thing is rotten. He’s got to go.”Meanwhile, another veteran backbencher, Sir Roger Gale, said: “I think we are discovering that from being an electoral asset, he is becoming an electoral liability – something my colleagues may want to take on board. We can’t go on lurching from crisis to crisis.”The Savanta poll found that 46 per cent of voters believe Johnson should have resigned after receiving a police fine for breaking Covid laws, with a further 20 per cent saying he should do so only if heavily criticised in the Gray report. Some 47 per cent of those who voted Tory in 2019 said he should go if condemned by Gray, against 46 per cent who want him to stay.Fewer than one voter in five (19 per cent) believes Mr Johnson has told the truth about parties at No 10, compared to an overwhelming 67 per cent who think he lied. And 37 per cent said it would make them less likely to back the Tories if he remains leader.One MP who has submitted a letter of no confidence in the PM told The Independent: “This poll tallies with what I am hearing on the doorstep. My colleagues urgently need to consider not just the moral implications of Partygate but the electoral implications as well.”The Gray report will detail 16 events held in No 10 and Whitehall in 2020 and 2021, at a time when Britons had been told to stay at home and avoid social contact except for essential work reasons.In an interim report in January, the senior civil servant blasted “failures of leadership” at No 10 and said some of the behaviour described was “difficult to justify” at a time when the public were under such tight restrictions.Around 30 senior individuals have been warned they will be named for possible criticism in the full report, which was delayed for four months while police conducted their own investigation.Downing Street was forced to deny reports that Mr Johnson had suggested at a meeting earlier this month that Ms Gray could ditch the full report, allegedly asking her: “Is there much point in doing it now that it’s all out there?”The PM’s official spokesperson told reporters he “did not recognise” the account, adding: “The prime minister did not ask her to drop the report or not proceed with the report. It was the prime minister who commissioned the report and he wants the report to be published.”It is expected that the report will be published within hours of being handed over to Mr Johnson, who will then make a statement to MPs before facing Conservative backbenchers in a meeting of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tories which could be crucial to deciding his fate.Committee chair Sir Graham Brady must call a vote on the leadership if he receives 54 no-confidence letters from MPs, with Mr Johnson then needing a majority of MPs’ votes to survive.Some 13 MPs have publicly declared they have submitted letters, though some may have withdrawn them, while others could have done so privately, Rumours circulating in Westminster on Tuesday suggested that Sir Graham may have amassed as many as 40 letters, though he never confirms the figure until the threshold is passed.Tuesday’s Savanta poll found continued dissatisfaction with Mr Johnson’s performance as prime minister, though his overall rating of -26 (34 per cent thinking he was doing well and 60 per cent badly) was slightly improved on the -28 score he recorded in April.But there was no clear frontrunner to succeed him, with voters choosing Mr Johnson as the best available Tory leader on 22 per cent, ahead of Rishi Sunak or Jeremy Hunt on 8 and Liz Truss or Sajid Javid on 6. Some 44 per cent of those who voted Conservative in 2019 said Mr Johnson was their favoured leader.And Labour’s lead over the Tories remained at six points, with Keir Starmer’s party on 40 per cent (unchanged since a similar poll in April), Conservatives on 34 (unchanged) and Liberal Democrats 10 (down one).Sir Keir Starmer’s satisfaction rating of -3 was better than that of any government minister polled.But almost half of those questioned (48 per cent) agreed that Starmer should quit as Labour leader – as he has promised to do – if he is fined by Durham Police for sharing beers and curry with staff under Covid restrictions.Voters overwhelmingly – 59 per cent to 17 per cent – said that the so-called “Beergate” incident involving the Labour leader was less serious than the Partygate events at No 10.Savanta questioned 2,244 British adults on 21-22 May More