Report set to be released as picture of yet another boozy Downing Street session emerges
- ‘The bar is open’: details emerge of new Downing Street lockdown event
- Six in 10 people in UK believe government ignores rules
Good morning. We are expecting to get the full Sue Gray report into Partygate later today and, although it would be a mistake to say this moment poses the greatest threat yet to Boris Johnson’s chances of survival as Tory leader and prime minister – a few months ago most MPs and commentators would have agreed that the police investigation was more dangerous – it is certainly going to be perilous for him. The appetite amongst Tory MPs for a leadership contest seems to have faded in recent weeks, although it is not impossible that the mood could change swiftly within the next 24 hours.
As a measure of how serious this is, the government seems to be poised to announced a multi-billionaire cost of living rescue package tomorrow. Ministers were working on this anyway, but the desire to publish it tomorrow is no coincidence, and it may be the most expensive dead cat ever. Downing Street has got form for bringing forward major announcements to bury the shame of a Partygate story; it happened with the Covid plan B before Christmas.
Downing Street is facing yet more questions over the Partygate scandal after a new picture emerged of yet another boozy No 10 lockdown session.
The image shows a table littered with bottles of fizz and wine to mark the last press briefing held by senior aide James Slack on 17 November, 2020.
