Gray in row with Met over partygate dossier

Force says final report into lockdown-breaking parties cannot be released until all the fines have been issued

‘Tory MPs must realise that every time they defend Boris Johnson, they embroil themselves in his web of lies’

SUE GRAY has found herself in a row with the Metropolitan Police after being told she cannot publish her report on lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street until all the fines have been handed out.

The former Cabinet Office propriety and ethics chief is understood to be anxious to release her dossier on the 16 events as soon as possible after April 26, when the House of Lords returns from its Easter recess.

But although the Met’s initial justification for delaying the report was that it could prejudice police interviews, those are now believed to have concluded.

Officers are now insisting the “investigation” period also covers the time it takes detectives to release fixed penalty notices, which could take weeks.

It is likely that the report could now be delayed until after May 5, when local elections will be held in council areas across England and Wales.

The publication is not affected by “purdah” rules that restrict government announcements before elections.

Wrangling over the dossier’s release comes as Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, calls on Conservative MPs to oust Boris Johnson over the fine he received for attending his birthday gathering in June 2020.

The Prime Minister is set to make a statement to Parliament on Tuesday about the fine, where he is expected to apologise for breaking the rules but insist he was not aware he had done so.

He will then meet Tory MPs on Tuesday evening for a “clear the air” discussion designed to shore up support ahead of Wednesday, when he is likely to face a vote that could see him launch another investigation.

The Sunday Telegraph understands opposition parties have given letters to Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker, calling for a vote on whether to refer the Prime Minister to the Commons privileges committee, which would investigate if he had misled MPs over partygate.

If he was found to have broken the rules, Mr Johnson could be suspended from Parliament for a contempt of privilege. Labour sources have said that the party was still considering its options on how best to depose Mr Johnson, but Sir Keir said the decision was up to Conservative MPs.

“The Cabinet, ministers and Tory MPs must realise this is not going to change and every time they defend Boris Johnson, they embroil themselves in his web of lies,” he said.

“Only Conservative MPs have the power to bring this shameful saga to a close. If the Prime Minister is not going to resign, then they must take action when Parliament returns this week to send a clear message that honesty and integrity in public life still matters.”

But one Cabinet minister told this newspaper that Mr Johnson still enjoyed the support of his party and would not be ejected from office over his birthday event.

“A party is where there’s a karaoke machine, a lot of alcohol and people stay up and have a good time,” they said. “Boris didn’t attend any of those. “The general feeling is we’ve got bigger fish to worry about.”

The Metropolitan Police declined to comment.

It is no secret, but all is not well between the Prime Minister and his Chancellor. This time last week Rishi Sunak appeared to be the one who was in trouble, following revelations about his wife’s tax affairs. By this week the balance had tipped. Boris Johnson is now the more vulnerable of the two.

Whatever the particulars, however, it is never a good idea for a chancellor to fall out with his prime minister. For one thing, it doesn’t make for stable government, and for another it tends to rebound, often to the disadvantage of both parties.

The rift between Gordon Brown and Tony Blair is the stuff of legend. A fault line that ran through the Blair government’s entire period in office. The breakdown in relations between Margaret Thatcher and her Chancellor, Nigel Lawson, brought about Lawson’s fall – and was a major factor in hers.

In Labour’s case, the seeds were sown from the outset when Blair leapfrogged Brown in the race to succeed John Smith. It was also, at least so far as Brown was concerned, deeply personal. In the early years, news of the rift was suppressed, principally due to the media management skills of Alastair Campbell. As Campbell once remarked to me, “For years I was required to defend a lie. That all was well at the heart of New Labour, when it wasn’t.”

Looking back it was remarkable that the lid was kept on for so long. Brown, in effect, set up a rival court in the Treasury. Damaging leaks and hostile briefings seemed to come from someone in Brown’s inner circle. Blair used to profess himself mystified. “Where is this stuff coming from?” he would ask at meetings of his advisers, and one of them would silently point in the direction of the Treasury.

In fairness to both men, they understood just how damaging the stories of a breakdown in relations between the two most powerful members of the government could be and always drew back from the brink.

More than once Brown appeared to endorse rebellions by his backbench supporters in Parliament only to retreat at the last moment. When Blair was in trouble over Iraq, Brown never sought to exploit the issue. For his part Blair several times contemplated removing Brown from the Treasury, but always drew back for fear that the fallout would prove ruinous.

In the end, despite everything, they just about got away with it. In June 2007, after 10 years in office, Blair departed more or less on his own terms and there was an orderly transfer of power. Along the way, however, it was a white-knuckle ride.

Sunak is not in as strong a position as Brown. A relative newcomer to politics, his rise has been meteoric, but easy come, easy go.

True, his deft handling of the economy during the Covid lockdown won him friends in all quarters, but the acclaim he received did not necessarily endear him to his next-door neighbour. His apparently lukewarm support for the Prime Minister during his troubles over “Partygate” was widely noticed and talked about.

For the time being, they will stand or fall together. In the longer run, however, the shine has come off “Dishy Rishi”. His non-dom wife and the news that he was in possession of a US Green Card until recently make it look as though the golden couple have just stopped over to govern us for a few years while en route between India and California.

The moral of the story: thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s job.

At least not too conspicuously.

It is never a good idea for a chancellor to fall out with his prime minister. For one thing, it doesn’t make for stable government, and for another it tends to rebound