Inside Politics: Partygate hangover continues

MPs continue to raise questions about Boris Johnson’s future in the wake of Sue Gray’s Partygate report. Elsewhere, there are growing calls for an investigation into the chaotic scenes at Saturday night’s Champions League final involving Liverpool.

Parliament is in recess.

It may be a new week but it is a very familiar story causing Boris Johnson a fresh headache this morning. Just days after the PM amended the ministerial code ahead of the privileges committee investigation into whether he misled parliament over Partygate, there were two major updates in the scandal yesterday. Both raise yet more questions about the transparency and impartiality of Sue Gray’s investigation into the sorry saga.

The first was that senior officials tried to dilute the findings of Gray’s report. According to The Sunday Times, Samantha Jones, the permanent secretary at No 10, reportedly discussed who should be publicly named in the report with Gray’s team ahead of publication. Gray was lobbied to make changes on Tuesday evening by Jones, cabinet secretary Simon Case, and permanent secretary in the Cabinet Office, Alex Chisholm (The Cabinet Office denies the claims).

The second story, also reported by the ST, was that messages sent by the prime minister’s wife, Carrie Johnson, appear to show that she was in the flat with several friends (Johnson entered the flat while they were there, it is claimed) on the evening of 19 June, 2020 – when indoor socialising was banned. The event, the second time it is alleged rules were broken in the PM’s flat (he and separate to the birthday event for which he was fine, is not mentioned in Gray’s report.

Out on the broadcast round Branon Lewis, the Northern Ireland secretary, said he didn’t “recognise any of that” (not quite a full-throated denial) while a spokesperson for Carrie said all relevant information had been given to both Gray and the Metropolitan Police. Labour is keeping up the pressure on Partygate with Angela, Rayner, the deputy leader, demanding an investigation into the reports of the second gathering in Johnson’s Downing Street abode.

Questions about Johnson’s future have swirled following the publication of Gray’s report and will only intensify this week, in what will likely be a slower news week in Westminster with MPs back in their constituencies for the recess and Jubilee bank holiday weekend. There is now a total of 25 Conservative backbenchers who have publicly called for Johnson to be removed.

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Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, has joined called for an investigation into the chaotic scenes at the Champions League final in Paris on Saturday when some Liverpool fans were sprayed with tear gas.

“The footage and accounts from Liverpool fans and the media on their entry to the Stade de France...are deeply concerning,” Dorries said as the event comes under further scrutiny later today when representatives from local authorities, police and match organisers meet in the French capital to review what went wrong.

“I urge UEFA to launch a formal investigation into what went wrong and why, in coordination with stadium staff, the French Police, Federation Francaise de Football, Merseyside Police and Liverpool Football Club,” Dorries added. “It is in the interests of everyone involved to understand what happened and to learn lessons from these events.”

Ian Byrne, the Liverpool MP for West Derby who was at the game and survived the Hillsborough disaster, has also written to Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, to say she should demand a full investigation by Uefa about what went wrong on the night.

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“Yes – but I don’t think we’re in that space”.

Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland secretary, says he is confident Johnson would survive a no confidence vote.

“Written msgs given to MET, ignored. CABOFF offered them, ignored. How do you avoid written evidence of crimes in the flat? Just ignore! Same as ABBA. Today no10 briefing lobby it shdn’t be reported ‘cos mental health issues’ in no10!”

Dominic Cummings, PM’s former top aide, on latest Partygate report.

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