“Mistakes of leadership”, “events that should not have been authorized”… The conclusions of the highly anticipated administrative report on the Downing Street holiday scandal during confinement are explosive.
This report, written by senior civil servant Sue Gray and feared to say the least by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, had been expected for several days. In detail, the document denounces “errors in leadership and judgment by different parts of Downing Street and the Cabinet Office at different times”. “Some events should not have been allowed. Other events should not have unfolded the way they did,” wrote Sue Gray in the 12-page report, which focuses on 12 events between May 2020 and April 2021. The document also pinpoints a “consumption excessive drinking” in the workplace and felt that lessons should be learned “immediately”.
The report was delivered to Boris Johnson on Monday morning.
“I understand, and I will fix it”
The Prime Minister, who has always maintained that he had done nothing illegal, addressed the deputies in the middle of the afternoon. He said he was “sorry”: “I understand, and I will fix it,” said the Conservative leader, promising changes in the management of Downing Street.
Faced with the scandal of these watered parties, denounced within his own party, he had affirmed that he would not resign.
Police investigation
An investigation, launched last week by the police, came to thwart the publication of the report. The police asked that details of the latter not jeopardize the police investigation. Twelve of the events mentioned in Sue Gray’s report are thus mentioned as being the subject of the police investigation.