Sue Gray report: Live updates as Boris Johnson to make statement on No 10 'partygate' findings
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She found that “at least some of the gatherings” she investigated 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”.
Police are investigating the gathering in the Cabinet Room in No 10 on Boris Johnson’s birthday in 2020, the report suggests.
The House of Commons confirmed that the Prime Minister will make a statement to MPs on the inquiry at 3.30pm.
Follow our live blog below for the latest updates on the report:
Live updates as Boris Johnson to make statement on Sue Gray’s ‘partygate’ report
Key Events
- Sue Gray hands Boris Johnson a version of her partygate inquiry
- The redacted report on the allegations of lockdown-busting gatherings in No 10 has been published
- Police investigating gatherings on at least eight separate occasions, report suggests
- Boris Johnson will make a statement to MPs on the inquiry at 3.30pm
The Prime Minister insisted he is the man to lead the UK through the current “challenging time”
The Prime Minister insisted he is the man to lead the UK through the current “challenging time” and defended the record of Number 10, after he was accused of “flying on the seat of his pants”.
Labour MP Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) said: “I have known the Prime Minister a long time and we have always got on quite well. He is not a wicked man, but he is a man that for years in every job has got by flying on the seat of his pants.
“He has a chaotic management style. That is the question of character. Can I ask him, really, to look in the mirror as he said this morning and say, ‘Am I the man at this challenging time for the country abroad and home?’ In every sense, has he the character to carry on and do that job?”
Labour backbench MPs shouted: “No!”
The Prime Minister replied: “Yes, Mr Speaker, because, quite frankly, I think it was absolutely indispensable that we had a strong Number 10 that was able to take us out of the EU despite all efforts of the party opposite to block it, but not only that, a booster and a vaccine campaign that were led by Number 10 that have made a dramatic difference, not just to the health of this country but to the economic fortunes of this country.
“Whatever he says about me and my leadership that is what we have delivered in the last year alone.”
Man who was fined for breaking lockdown rules “wants his money back"
A man who was fined almost £2,000 for breaking lockdown rules has called for a refund and an apology after the release of the Sue Gray report.
Bryn Richards, a university student from Norwich, was charged £1,995 for participating in a gathering outdoors of more than two people in November 2020, during the UK’s second national lockdown.
The 38-year-old claimed he was arrested after interacting with participants of a libertarian, anti-lockdown march while out for a walk in the city, adding he was “caught in the crossfire, between the police and the protesters”.