The public had made its mind up about Boris Johnson before Sue Gray’s report was published

“Update” is such a friendly little bureaucratic word, it is difficult to believe that it could carry with it the beginnings of the destruction of a premiership, yet so it would seem. The “update” to Sue Gray’s “investigation into alleged gatherings on government premises during Covid restrictions”, or “Partygate” as it is more colloquially known, is a damning indictment on Boris Johnson. He is subject to criminal investigation. Skilful and experienced operator as she is, Ms Gray has managed to make her meaning perfectly clear, both in what was said and unsaid, and the facts speak for themselves.

Constrained as she has been, and emaciated as the document is, the prime minister must take responsibility – and face the consequences – for the failings of leadership in Downing Street. In Ms Gray’s words: “There were failures of leadership and judgement 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.”

It hardly needs pointing out who was in charge of Downing Street and the government during the period in question. The place was part medieval court, part drinking den, part frat party venue. That much the public already knows, and it is an insult to their sacrifices.

Ms Gray also embarrasses the prime minister with stiletto understatement, as when she observes that: “Against the backdrop of the pandemic, when the government was asking citizens to accept far-reaching restrictions on their lives, some of the behaviour surrounding these gatherings is difficult to justify.”

Ms Gray does not need to add what the prime minister has in fact openly admitted, and which has been corroborated by others, that he attended some of these 16 parties, whether he thought they were “work events” or not. Twelve have been referred to the police. It was Mr Johnson who was asking citizens to accept restrictions, and did not apply them to his own behaviour, and the standards of behaviour he presided over were a disgrace.

It is clear that Mr Johnson was personally involved in some of the very many events that have now been referred to the Metropolitan Police. As Keir Starmer stated, it is not necessary to draw any conclusions or pre-empt the police investigation now underway to note that the prime minister, among others, is under investigation for breaches of the very laws he made and were approved by cabinet in Downing Street itself. That is enough to appal the public, and rightly so. Mr Johnson is reduced to telling the House of Commons that he cannot say whether he was or wasn’t at a party in his own flat. It is absurd, and unworthy of the position.

Even at this point, the prime minister cannot bring himself to show sincere contrition. He said “sorry”, but for “mistakes” that “we” made, not that “I” made. There will be sackings, but by him, not of him. He will keep his job for a few more weeks. That’s as good as it gets for the prime minister these days.

A few weeks ago, the impression, indeed the assurance, that the prime minister gave to parliament was that no rules were broken. This does not seem a tenable position to hold now. Yet it was what he told the House of Commons and the public, repeatedly, even though, as has transpired, he was at some such events. Had what we know now been known when the first revelations emerged, when Allegra Stratton quit (the only person who has thus far), and Mr Johnson professed himself “furious” that people broke the rules, then he would have had to quit immediately.

He has bought time, and gambled that the public’s anger would inevitably subside with the passage of time. He is still standing, but his premiership remains in great jeopardy. Plainly, his own MPs, as well as the opposition and the wider public, want to see the full contents of the Gray report, preferably now, hopefully soon, and certainly when any police proceedings have passed.

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As things stand, many of his colleagues are reserving their judgement and withholding their confidence in him, until they are in full possession of the facts.

Disturbingly for all concerned, the prime minister was reluctant at first to repeat his previous promises to commit to publishing the full report – because the document now released to the public is a mere “update”, as Ms Gray calls it. But Downing Street later issued a statement to say it would be published in full. The Conservative parliamentary party will not give him its full backing unless it sees all the gruesome details of the behaviour of Mr Johnson and his associates. As ever in such scandals, as the old saying goes, it’s not the crime that gets you, it’s the cover-up. Mr Johnson hasn’t got away with it yet. It will drag on for months and debilitate the government.

It is not a pretty sight, and the public will not be appeased by the creation of a new Office of the Prime Minister with its very own permanent secretary. They made their minds up about the prime minister and his government months ago – before Partygate, during the Owen Paterson affair and the dissatisfactions that led to the Tories losing two safe seats in by-elections. They are still angry, and they want to know what happened when they were in lockdown. It is not too much to ask.