The findings of the much-awaited Sue Gray probe report into the alleged “partygate” scandal in Britain has been released. The allegations surround more than a dozen government parties held during the pandemic that likely broke pandemic-related rules. The central purpose of these investigations as stated in the report is, “.to establish a general understanding of the nature of the gatherings including: attendance, the setting and the purpose, with reference to adherence to the guidance in place at the time. Gray’s team carried out interviews of over 70 individuals and examined relevant documentary and digital information. These included emails, WhatsApp messages, text messages, photographs and building entry and exit logs. Firstly, which parties did the Gray report investigate? The gatherings investigated happened over a period of 20 months starting May 15, 2020 to April 16, 2021. The events investigated by Gray’s team are as follows: May 15, 2020: A photograph showing a number of groups in the garden of No 10 Downing Street May 20 2020: A gathering in the garden of No 10 Downing Street for No 10 staff June 18 2020: A gathering in the Cabinet Office, 70 Whitehall on the departure of a No 10 private secretary June 19 2020: A gathering in the Cabinet room in No 10 Downing Street on the Prime Minister’s birthday November 13 2020: A gathering in the No 10 Downing Street flat; a gathering in No 10 Downing Street on the departure of a special adviser November 27 2020: A gathering in No 10 Downing Street on the departure of a special adviser December 10 2020: A gathering in the Department for Education ahead of the Christmas break December 15 2020: A gathering in No 10 Downing Street for an online Christmas quiz December 17 2020: A gathering in Cabinet Office, 70 Whitehall to hold an online Christmas quiz for the Cabinet Secretary’s private office; A gathering in Cabinet Office, 70 Whitehall on the departure of a senior Cabinet Office official; A gathering in No 10 Downing Street on the departure of a No 10 official ((Before Gray, UK’s senior most civil servant, Cabinet Secretary Simon Case was supposed to carry out the investigations. But he stepped down in December 2021 after the news broke out that two rule-breaking parties were reportedly held at his own office.) December 18 2020: A gathering in No 10 Downing Street ahead of the Christmas break January 14 2021: A gathering in No 10 Downing Street on the departure of two No 10 private secretaries April 16 2021: A gathering in No 10 Downing Street on the departure of a senior No 10 official; A gathering in No 10 Downing Street on the departure of another No 10 official. Newsletter | Click to get the day's best explainers in your inbox What are the findings? The report notes that in the backdrop of the pandemic, “some of the behaviour surrounding these gatherings is difficult to justify.” More crucially, the report notes, “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.” It also points out that “excessive consumption of alcohol” is not appropriate for a professional working environment. What happens now? The report published on Monday is not complete and Downing Street has said that it will be available once the Metropolitan Police are done with their inquiries. The police had earlier said that they will not investigate the allegations since it is their policy to not look into retrospective breaches of COVID-19 protocols. But after some information was provided to them by the Cabinet Office investigation team, they are carrying out their own inquiries for all the aforementioned dates barring four of them. They have said that the four gatherings are outside the scope of their investigations because they do not reach the threshold for criminal investigation. The so-called “partygate” scandal has deeply offended the British public who are especially angry at their prime minister Boris Johnson. His apparent violations of the COVID-19 related protocol has not gone down well even with some members of his own party. Last month, Johnson doggedly defended repeated calls–from the Opposition as well as MPs from his party–demanding that he quit. However, some MPs from his party later re-considered their position, temporarily softening their stance against Johnson. A subset of these MPs postponed taking a call on Johnson’s ouster until the release of Gray’s report. If some members of Johnson’s Tory party still see him as a liability there might be a possibility that a vote of no confidence is triggered against him. Under the Conservative party rules, a vote of no confidence can be triggered if 15 per cent of the party MPs write to the chair of a 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady. In absolute figures, 54 MPs will need to write to Brady after which the vote will be conducted by the committee. To survive this vote, if it comes to that, Johnson will have to win the support of at least 50 percent of his party’s MPs. Concluding her 12-page report, Gray said, “. a number of these gatherings should not have been allowed to take place or to develop in the way that they did. There is significant learning to be drawn from these events which must be addressed immediately across Government.”
