The controversy over the Sue Gate report into UK’s Partygate scandal

The trouble for British prime minister Boris Johnson continues with the Partygate scandal refusing to die down.

After being found to have participated in gatherings during the COVID-19 lockdown, breaking the rules, there are now allegations that Downing Street attempted to dilute Sue Gray’s report on the Partygate scandal.

Reacting to the claims, Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland secretary, was quoted as telling Sky News’ Sophy Ridge that he is confident Gray could not be influenced by anybody and having worked with her before, he “would not question her independence”.

“Knowing Sue Gray, I don’t believe anybody would be able to pressure her into putting any kind of report out that she wasn’t confident with.

“I’m confident Sue Gray had the freedom to write the report she did write and publish,” he was quoted as saying.

We take a closer look at what the controversy is all about — who is Sue Gray, what changes did she allegedly make at the behest of Downing Street and how the Opposition is reacting to it.

What is the Sue Gray report all about?

Following media reports of multiple gatherings in or near Downing Street — where the British prime minister lives and works — throughout the pandemic, also known as the Partygate scandal, led to an investigation being launched.

Sue Gray, a senior civil servant once nicknamed ‘deputy god’, was tasked to look at the nature and purpose of the gatherings, including who went to them, and whether they broke coronavirus rules.

The second permanent secretary to the Cabinet office with responsibility for the Union and the Constitution became a popular name when she led several high-profile investigations between 2012 and 2018 and was involved in the resignations of three cabinet ministers.

In 2017, her report into Conservative minister Damian Green found he had lied about the presence of pornographic images on his parliamentary computer and prompted then-prime minister Theresa May to fire her close cabinet ally.

Gray earlier investigated claims that Andrew Mitchell, Tory chief whip at the time, insulted police officers in Downing Street with the class-charged derogatory term “pleb”.

Former senior official David Normington had told BBC radio earlier this year that Gray was the best person within officialdom to lead the internal investigation.

“She’s a feisty senior civil servant and I think will tell us the truth as it is,” Alistair Graham, who worked with her when he was chairman of a standards in public life committee, was quoted as telling AFP.

What were Sue Gray’s findings?

In her report, the senior civil servant investigated 16 events between May 2020 and April 2021 and said that “what took place at many of these gatherings and the way in which they developed was not in line with COVID guidance at the time”.

In her 60-page report, Gray stated that “many of these events should not have been allowed to happen”.

“The senior leadership at the centre, both political and official, must bear responsibility for this culture.”

The report adds that junior civil servants were led to believe that their involvement in these events was acceptable, given the involvement of senior civil servants and political advisors.

Her report also included nine photographs from inside Downing Street, several including Johnson drinking with staff members.

In her report, senior civil servant Sue Gray said the senior leadership at the centre, both political and official, must bear responsibility for this (party) culture. AFP

Did Sue Gray amend her report?

Shortly after Gray released her report, allegations emerged that the civil servant had diluted her report, especially about the ‘Abba party’.

The Sunday Times reported that Gray was lobbied not to publish the names of some of those who attended the 12 illegal gatherings.

Additionally, details of the ‘Abba night’ party, allegedly held in Boris Johnson’s flat on 13 November 2020, are also said to have been “tweaked” by Johnson’s chief-of-staff Steve Barclay.

Boris Johnson was accused of attending a party with loud ABBA music in the No 11 flat he shared with his family, to celebrate the ousting of Lee Cain — his departing director of communications — and Dominic Cummings.

However, Gray described the event as “a meeting …to discuss the handling of their departure” and revealed she did not seek to probe it in great detail.

“Five special advisers attended. The prime minister joined them at about 20.00. Food and alcohol were available,” she said.

“The discussion carried on later into the evening with attendees leaving at various points. The information collected on this gathering is limited as the process of obtaining evidence had only just been commenced when the Metropolitan Police announced their own investigations, which included events on the 13 November 2020.

“At this point I stopped my investigation, given the need to avoid any prejudice to the police investigation.

“Following the Metropolitan Police announcement on 19 May 2022 I considered whether or not to conduct any further investigation into this event but concluded it was not appropriate or proportionate to do so.”

There have been multiple calls for British prime minister Boris Johnson to step down for his role in participating in gatherings during the COVID lockdown. AP

Downing Street speaks

Downing Street denied that there had been any tampering.

A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “We did not change the report in terms of substantive content.”

As per a Mirror report, a No10 source said, “It is untrue that anyone on the political side saw anything in advance or sought to influence it.”

Cabinet Office sources said it was “categorically untrue” that “senior figures were able to edit or influence the report”, it was untrue that Steve Barclay influenced the report, and top civil servant Simon Case did not ask for his name to be removed from the report.

On facing calls to step down amid the scandal, Boris Johnson stood defiant and last Wednesday said: “I really think that given everything that’s going on right now, it’s my job to get on and serve the people of this country.

“That does not mean that I don’t accept responsibility for the totality of what happened and, yes, I bitterly regret it,” he noted.

But he said it was now time to focus on people’s “priorities”, including Ukraine and a spiralling cost-of-living crisis in Britain.

With inputs from agencies

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