Sue Gray has issued a damning verdict on the party culture in Boris Johnson’s Downing Street, in a 37-page report that includes nine photographs, and names a string of senior civil servants.
Gray sets out in embarrassing detail how each event unfolded, including a leaving party on 18 June 2020, at which “one individual was sick”, and “there was a minor altercation between two other individuals”.
“Whatever the initial intent, 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,” the report says.
“Even allowing for the extraordinary pressures officials and advisers were under, the factual findings of this report illustrate some attitudes and behaviours inconsistent with that guidance.”
In what appears to be an indictment of the prime minister, as well as senior civil servants, she says “the senior leadership at the centre, both political and official, must bear responsibility for this culture”.
Details of the gatherings include security logs revealing some staff carried on partying until 4am after the leaving do for the director of communications, James Slack, cleaners giving evidence of spilled wine over the walls, and messages warning drunken staff to leave via the back entrance. » | Heather Stewart and Aubrey Allegretti | Wednesday, May 25, 2022
