When the Met’s Operation Hillman came to an end last week, with 126 fines handed out, Gray said she “considered whether or not to conduct any further investigation into this event but concluded it was not appropriate or proportionate to do so”.
One senior Tory MP told the Guardian they believed it amounted to a cover-up. Another said it had the potential to be “the most damaging event of the bunch for Johnson personally” and suggested it was highly suspicious the event had not been looked at, given several of the people present are believed to be friends of Johnson’s wife.
A frontbench Conservative MP also said they were disappointed the Gray report “doesn’t clear up what parties did or didn’t happen in his flat”, and added: “I think he’s getting away lightly.”
Another Tory MP argued: “The report makes clear the PM attended party after party in his frat house. The failure to investigate the infamous (1) Abba party is a failure of courage and duty on the part of Gray.”
Three Conservative MPs have broken cover to call for Boris Johnson to resign as prime minister since the publication of Sue Gray’s report on lockdown parties at No 10.
John Baron, David Simmonds and Julian Sturdy have joined a growing list of MPs urging the PM to stand down. Mr Barron said the report painted “a shameful pattern of misbehaviour”.
Conservative MPs can force a leadership contest if enough of them write letters of no confidence - the BBC is aware of about 17 who have done so, well short of the 54 needed. But only the chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs, Sir Graham Brady, knows the precise number.
Mr Baron and Mr Simmonds went public with calls for the PM to resign on Thursday morning. They released statements hours before Chancellor Rishi Sunak was expected to unveil a new package of measures to help households with rising living costs.
Senior members of Boris Johnson’s team are alleged to have put pressure on the civil servant to remove certain details and names from her report into coronavirus rule-breaking, with the 15 people finally named in the document only half the number initially told they would feature, according to the Sunday Times.
A Whitehall source told the paper: “On Tuesday night, one last attempt was made to persuade her to omit names from the report, but she made it plain to them the only way that was going to happen was if they issued her with an instruction.”
It was also alleged that Mr Johnson’s chief-of-staff Steve Barclay “tweaked” details about the party in the PM’s flat on the eve of publication.
But Cabinet Office sources rejected claims the report was edited due to pressure, while a No 10 source denied all allegations, saying: “It is untrue that anyone on the political side saw anything in advance or sought to influence it.”
Obviously, denials from BJ’s No 10 cannot be believed, so, seemingly, Sue Gray’s report WAS interfered with … and that can only be at the insistence of the man with his pants on fire, Boris Johnson, the “tinpot despot” …
It may be “as a result of this report” but the report is the topic not a Tory leadership battle which, in fact, may be as a result of a Tory confidence vote in BJ or as a result of being BJ found guilty of lying to parliament by the House of Commons Privileges Committee.
