Downing Street parties: Boris Johnson vows to fight on as MPs await Sue Gray report

UK

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Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has told Boris Johnson to publish the official report into No 10 parties in full.

MPs are still waiting to see the findings of civil servant Sue Gray’s inquiry, which had been expected to be made public on Wednesday.

In a heated Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir told Mr Johnson he should quit over the row and was “doing damage” to the UK’s reputation.

But Mr Johnson said he was “getting on with the job” and would stay on.

House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle repeatedly had to tell MPs to stop shouting during the exchanges.

The BBC understands that Ms Gray’s report is essentially completed, but she has not yet sent it to the prime minister.

She could still pass it on to No 10 on Wednesday, but it seems likely MPs may have to wait until Thursday or beyond to hear the PM’s response.

Mr Johnson has previously apologised for attending a “bring-your-own-booze” event in the No 10 garden on 20 May 2020, during the first lockdown, saying he thought it was a “work event”.

Reports of a birthday party held for Mr Johnson in the Cabinet Room in June 2020 have also come to light this week.

And Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick has said the force is looking into potential breaches of Covid laws at a number of events in government buildings since 2020.

Numerous opposition MPs – and some senior Tories – have called on Mr Johnson to resign over the scandal.

But Leader of the House, Jacob Rees-Mogg, carried on his staunch defence of the PM, insisting the gatherings were work events.

He added: “The issue here is that people had to be working in Downing Street [during the pandemic], the country had to carry on being governed, people had to come together.

“And if people are working all day, they have got to eat, they have got to have lunch, they must be allowed to have a cup of coffee during the day.

“When people are coming together for work they will inevitably have to have some form of food and drink.”

Asked whether that needed to be wine and cake, which was said to be served at the events, Mr Rees-Mogg replied: “This issue about do people have [an alcoholic] drink when they are working is not absolutely set in stone one way of the other.”

Boris Johnson

HoC

In the Commons earlier, Sir Keir said the prime minister had previously told MPs that “all guidance was followed” in Downing Street over gatherings during Covid lockdowns.

He added: “So since he acknowledges the ministerial code [governing standards of behaviour and forbidding ministers from misleading the Commons] applies to him, will he now resign?”

Mr Johnson replied: “No… Since he asked about Covid restrictions, let me just remind the House, and indeed remind the country, that he has been relentlessly opportunistic throughout.

“He has flip-flopped from one side to the other. He would have kept us in lockdown in the summer. He would have taken us back into lockdown at Christmas.”

‘Show respect for voters’

Sir Lindsay threatened MPs who disrupted proceedings by shouting with expulsion from the Commons chamber.

“Tensions are running high but what we need to be able to do is allow the people out there, who have gone about their duties, to hear what’s said on both sides – so please let’s give the respect our constituents deserve,” he said.

Amid continued noise, Sir Keir said: “The prime minister’s continual defence is ‘Wait for the Sue Gray report’. On 8 December he told this House, ‘I will place a copy of the report in the library of the House of Commons’.

“His spokesperson has repeatedly stated that means the full report, not parts of the report, not a summary of the report, not an edited copy. So, can the prime minister confirm that he will publish the full Sue Gray report as he receives it?”

Mr Johnson replied: “We’ve got to leave the report to the independent investigator, as he knows, of course when I receive it, I will do exactly what I said.”

The SNP’s Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, asked Conservative MPs to “show the prime minister the door” by triggering a leadership contest.

While some Tory MPs have already demanded Mr Johnson’s resignation, many others say they are waiting for the Gray report before deciding whether to submit letters of no confidence in him.

At least 54 of them must write to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, to set up a vote on the prime minister’s future.

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