Sue Gray's report is so 'damning that Boris Johnson will have to quit'

Remember Sue Gray and her little report into Partygate?

Of course you do. Well now senior officials are reportedly saying that her full investigation is so damning it might force Boris Johnson to resign.

The Times reports that a senior official told the paper: “Sue’s report is excoriating. It will make things incredibly difficult for the prime minister.

"There’s an immense amount of pressure on her — her report could be enough to end him.

“No official has ever been in a position like this before.”

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After it was reported officials in Downing Street may have attended a series of boozy events while the country endured strict lockdown rules, Johnson put senior civil servant Simon Case on the case to investigate what happened. He then stepped down when it was reported his office may not have behaved in a completely kosher way throughout lockdown so in came Sue Gray and we all waited anxiously for her judgement.

Gray was then forced to shelve her full report in January when the Metropolitan Police decided to look into a number of alleged coronavirus rule-breaking events in Downing Street as well, after being criticised for initially deciding not to. Nevertheless, she posted a mini-report instead which was pretty damning on its own.

Gatherings were “difficult to justify” and demonstrated “a serious failure to observe” the high standards expected of both the public and the government at the time," she wrote.

She continued: “At times it seems there was too little thought given to what was happening across the country in considering the appropriateness of some of these gatherings, the risks they presented to public health and how they might appear to the public.

“There were failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No 10 and the Cabinet Office at different times. Some of the events should not have been allowed to take place. Other events should not have been allowed to develop as they did.

“The excessive consumption of alcohol is not appropriate in a professional workplace at any time. Steps must be taken to ensure that every Government Department has a clear and robust policy in place covering the consumption of alcohol in the workplace."

Meanwhile, Johnson and chancellor Rishi Sunak have already received a £50 fine each from the police for attending a birthday event in June 2020 in which he was "ambushed with a cake" and as well as the Gray and police probes, Johnson is now facing an inquiry by a commons committee into whether he really thought he followed the rules during Covid or whether he misled parliament over the scandal.

It's not looking good for the prime minister.

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