Johnson denies cover-up over Carrie’s ‘Abba party’ at Downing Street flat
Infamous ‘Winner Takes It All’ event was not included in Sue Gray’s partygate report or police inquiry
SUE GRAY has admitted abandoning her investigation into the Downing Street “Abba party” claiming it was not “appropriate or proportionate”, as Boris Johnson was forced to deny a cover-up.
The event on Nov 13 2020 was reportedly hosted by the Prime Minister’s wife, Carrie Johnson, to celebrate the departure of Dominic Cummings and Lee Cain, with claims that Abba’s hit, The Winner Takes It All, could be heard blasting out of the No11 flat. Ms Gray began investigating the event in December last year, quickly establishing there was alcohol on offer. But she shelved her inquiries in January, when Scotland Yard launched its own criminal investigation.
The Daily Telegraph has confirmed that no fines were issued to any of the seven attendees, who included Mr and Mrs Johnson, the special adviser Henry Newman and four other political aides.
In her report, Ms Gray, said she had considered reopening her investigation into the event but decided against it believing it would not be “appropriate or proportionate”.
In the Commons yesterday, Mr Johnson was repeatedly questioned about whether he had leant on Ms Gray to fudge the report. Asked specifically about the Abba party, Mr Johnson replied: “That evening was extensively investigated, to the best of my knowledge, and I don’t believe I can improve on what Sue Gray has had to say.”
He later told a Downing Street press conference that the official flat has a “dual use” with prime ministers historically also using it for meetings.
“The event in question was a work meeting, the Metropolitan Police did investigate it and that was certainly the outcome of their investigation,” he said.
Ms Gray’s report blamed “failures of leadership” at the heart of government for which the Prime Minister must take responsibility.
The 60-page dossier revealed how numerous alcohol-fuelled gatherings had taken place, with one official becoming so drunk he was sick and two others getting into a fight at a karaoke party. Despite a bruising day for Mr Johnson, Downing Street figures were privately upbeat after he delivered a string of apologies to the Commons, to journalists and to his own Tory MPS. But he faces a key electoral test on June 23 with by-elections in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton, after Conservative MPS had to resign amid scandals.
Mr Johnson repeatedly spoke of his humility at what had gone on in Downing Street, saying at one point: “I am humbled and I have learnt a lesson.”
There was a flurry of resignation calls from Conservative MPS. Tobias Ellwood warned the Tories could lose the next election if Mr Johnson does not quit.
Julian Sturdy, MP for York Outer, said the Prime Minister had presided over “widespread” Covid law breaches and it was in the “public interest” that he quit.
Tory whips monitoring the number of no-confidence letters submitted to the 1922 Committee said they were in the dark, admitting that the 54-letter threshold that triggers a leadership vote could be hit at any moment.
But the true scale of Tory discontent is unclear. Conservative MPS who intervened in the Chamber were supportive – though many were not present or walked out of the partygate debate without speaking. The circumstances surrounding the Abba event remain under the spotlight after it emerged that Ms Gray had not fully investigated the matter and the police had decided not to issue fines.
The Prime Minister insisted the gathering had been a work event, with sources suggesting he met his closest aides to decide how to proceed following the departure of Mr Cummings and Mr Cain. He also claimed he had been interviewing Mr Newman, a friend of his wife, a defence that his lawyers were believed to have made to police.
Mr Cummings wrote on Twitter yesterday: “So Sue Gray inquiry into Abba party stopped ‘cos police starting’, cops don’t investigate, SG [Sue Gray] says ‘disproportionate’ to investigate now. Zero of those who saw/heard party interviewed #Howbadcoverupswork #Crimeweek.”
Elsewhere in the report Ms Gray lifted the lid on a culture of lockdown law-breaking that had developed in Downing Street and Whitehall, at a time when the rest of the county was being banned from visiting loved ones or even attending funerals.
At one party, Helen Macnamara,
DOWNING STREET cleaners and security staff have received a personal apology from Boris Johnson after a “lack of respect and poor treatment”.
The Prime Minister said he was “appalled” to learn from Sue Gray’s report that civil servants had mistreated other staff when they raised concerns about lockdown events in Whitehall.
The Daily Telegraph understands that Mr Johnson walked around Downing Street in person to apologise to staff who had been told to “f--- off ”, according to one source.
Ms Gray’s report said: “I found that some staff had witnessed or been subjected to behaviours at work which they had felt concerned about but at times felt unable to raise properly.
“I was made aware of multiple examples of a lack of respect and poor treatment of security and cleaning staff. This was unacceptable.”
It has been reported that Downing Street security officers, known as custodians, had been “laughed at” by partying press officers when they tried to close an event down.
A source told the BBC’S Panorama: “I remember when a custodian tried to stop it all and he was just shaking his head in this party, being like, ‘This shouldn’t be happening’.
“People made fun of him because he was so worked up that this party was happening and it shouldn’t be.”
The Telegraph verified yesterday that an email was sent around by Downing Street security after the incident.
Last night, Mr Johnson told the Commons: “I was appalled to learn that there have been multiple examples, in Sue Gray’s phrase, of disrespectful and poor treatment of cleaning and security personnel. I personally apologised to those dedicated members of staff for what happened and I expect anyone who behaved that way to do the same.”
He added: “I will make sure that staff, custodians and cleaners who were treated disrespectfully get a proper apology.”
A Conservative Party source suggested those who were responsible for the abuse of staff had since left No 10 and the Prime Minister was “disgusted” by the revelations upon reading them yesterday morning.
According to the source, Mr Johnson was told by one member of staff: “You were badly let down by people who have moved on.”
Ms Gray’s report identified one case on Dec 20, 2020, on the day “Wine Time Friday” would normally take place, when custodians and a No10 door duty police office responded to a panic alarm being accidentally triggered by a member of staff.
The report said the custodians “observed a large number of people” outside the press office and one was giving a speech.
“A cleaner who attended the room the next morning noted that there had
‘There had been red wine spilt on one wall and on a number of boxes of photocopier paper’
been red wine spilt on one wall and on a number of boxes of photocopier paper,” Ms Gray’s report added.
Following two leaving events in April 2021, a custodian asked attendees “to leave the building” before the group moved to the garden.
While custodians were later locking down the building, some members of the group returned inside at 9.30pm.
The report says a custodian later “encouraged” the remaining revellers to “use the rear exit of No10”, but some stayed and continued drinking alcohol with the last leaving at 4.30am.
The mistreatment of staff in Downing Street raised criticism from MPS on both sides of the Commons.
Chris Bryant, a Labour MP, said the behaviour was “the most despicable thing of all” in Ms Gray’s report.
Claire Coutinho, a Tory MP, said she was “troubled [by] language used towards the custodian”.