Not judgment day but it was still damning

THE long-awaited Sue Gray report contained some contradictions.

A “report” which Gray called an “update”. A process which was meant to produce factual findings but not general conclusions and which ultimately did the opposite.

Most importantly, this update did not provide the judgment day which both the public and MPs were eagerly awaiting. But Gray’s document did provide three important things.

First, Gray revealed which gatherings are being investigated by the police – 12 of 16 she had looked at.

These include the “bring your own booze” party on May 20, 2020, which the Prime Minister attended, the Prime Minister’s birthday party on June 19, 2020, and the leaving party which is alleged to have taken place in his own flat on November 13, 2020.

In Parliament he refused to say whether he was there, having previously insisted it was not a party.

This confirms for the first time that the Prime Minister is under direct criminal investigation potentially for multiple offences.

Second, although Gray said it would be “inappropriate” to comment on whether gatherings breached rules, because of the police probe, it was obvious she thought they did.

That is what she must have meant by “a number of gatherings should not have been allowed to take place or to develop in the way they did”.

It is obvious where she lays blame: “Failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No10 and the Cabinet Office at different times”.

Third, Gray’s position was always near impossible. She is investigating her boss, Simon Case, who allegedly organised his own gathering which is being investigated by the police, and his boss, the Prime Minister himself.

But she still has to complete her report and has decided to “ensure the secure storage and safekeeping” of the information she has received away from the Government itself – a quite extraordinary development.

The Prime Minister repeatedly pleaded with Parliament to wait for the outcome of the “investigation”.

With the now complex police investigation rumbling on, he probably wishes today had been judgment day after all.

It was obvious Gray thought the gatherings did breach the rules