Met police want ‘minimal reference’ to probe in Partygate report

Authorities have said they don’t want the Sue Gray report to compromise the investigation

On Friday morning, London’s Met Police force said it had made stipulations on the Partygate report being carried out by senior civil servant Sue Gray, requesting “minimal reference” to events probed in their own investigation. 

Her report investigates whether any lockdown rules were broken by PM Boris Johnson and his colleagues during a number of events held at 10 Downing Street. The Metropolitan Police is also probing the Partygate events to see if any laws were broken.

“For the events the Met is investigating, we asked for minimal reference to be made in the Cabinet Office report,” a spokesman for the Met said in a statement cited in the media.

Read more

“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,” it added.

Gray’s report was expected this week, but government ministers have repeatedly denied that the paper has been delivered to Downing Street.

The outcome of Gray’s probe is considered to be an important moment in Johnson’s premiership. 

Technology minister Chris Philp suggested the report had not been delivered on Friday morning. 

Allegations have been made that Johnson flaunted his own lockdown rules on several occasions. He was pictured sitting in his garden with colleagues on May 10, 2020, while he was also briefly present at a larger gathering ten days later.

Johnson has apologized but insisted he thought he was attending work events.

It is also alleged that he received a birthday cake and was granted a short celebration.