LONDON: Prime Minister Boris Johnson is continuing to fight on — bravely as some see it, brazenly as the opposition does — after a damning report into “gatherings” at 10 Downing SAtreet through the lockdown.

The report by civil servant Sue Gray found “failure of leadership and judgment” in holding these gatherings at Downing Street when the rules for the rest of the country, announced from Downing Street, did not allow such gatherings for the rest. “There was too little thought given to what was happening across the country in considering the appropriateness of some of these gatherings,” Gray’s report says. In this Gray found “a serious failure to observe…high standards.”

The report presented is only a summary of the findings, given the restrictions imposed by the police on what she could say on matters they are investigating. But her conclusions are stark.

Against the backdrop of the pandemic, “when the Government was asking citizens to accept far-reaching restrictions on their lives, some of the behaviour surrounding these gatherings is difficult to justify,” she says. “At least some of the gatherings in question 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.”

Gray notes: “There were failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No 10 and the Cabinet Office at different times. Some of the events should not have been allowed to take place. Other events should not have been allowed to develop as they did.”

Gray clearly found evidence of a lot of drinking taking place at these gatherings at 10 Downing Street. “The excessive consumption of alcohol is not appropriate in a professional workplace at any time. Steps must be taken to ensure that every Government Department has a clear and robust policy in place covering the consumption of alcohol in the workplace.”

That does raise the question how a “gathering” where a lot of alcohol is being consumed differs from a party.

Staff who wanted to complain about all this were gagged, she finds. “Some staff wanted to raise concerns about behaviours they witnessed at work but at times felt unable to do so. No member of staff should feel unable to report or challenge poor conduct where they witness it. There should be easier ways for staff to raise such concerns informally, outside of the line management chain.”

Not in the report

The details of events are not included in the report because Gray says she does not wish to prejudice the police investigation under way. “Unfortunately, this necessarily means that I am extremely limited in what I can say about those events and it is not possible at present to provide a meaningful report setting out and analysing the extensive factual information I have been able to gather.”

But the brief five-page report does include a reminder that she has all the information anyone could need about these gatherings.

“Extensive substantive factual information is now available and has been compiled by me and my team to fulfil my obligation to establish the facts,” she says in her report. “The investigative work is now essentially complete.”

Gray says she has shared all this information with the police. “I have also been asked to retain all the other information collected in the course of this work, which I have confirmed that I will do. I will therefore ensure the secure storage and safekeeping of all the information gathered until such time as it may be required further.”

Boris Johnson

Facing an opposition onslaught in Parliament, Boris Johnson said he accepts the findings of the report and that he will carry out changes in No: 10 accordingly. He has declared meanwhile that he is getting on with the larger task of running the country and pushing its interests abroad, beginning with a visit to Ukraine.

But his own attendance at a gathering in his garden, at which guests were asked to bring their own booze, is under police investigation now. As are two other parties held at a flat in Downing Street.

Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer said the Prime Minister is now the subject of a criminal investigation and demanded he resign. “He’s finally fallen back on his usual excuse,” he said in Parliament. “It’s everyone’s fault but his.”

— London Eye is a weekly column by CNBC-TV18’s Sanjay Suri, which gives a peek at business-as-unusual from London and around.

Read his other columns

(Edited by : Ajay Vaishnav)

First Published:Feb 1, 2022 7:31 AM IST