“I take full responsibility for everything that happened under my leadership,” said Boris Johnson, renewing his apologies. The British Prime Minister is once again in turmoil this Wednesday, May 25, when the conclusions of the administrative investigation into the “partygate” were published, implicating the leaders of Downing Street on several evenings held in the residence of the Prime Minister during the anti-Covid confinements.
Senior civil servant Sue Gray’s findings are crucial to Boris Johnson’s political future. Because if the head of the conservative government had seemed in recent weeks in a position to overcome this scandal likely to dislodge him from power, the affair was relaunched this week by the publication of overwhelming testimonies and photos in the media.
After the police sanctions last week, it was Sue Gray, deemed intractable, who published a report detailing, event by event, emails and photos in support, what was going on behind the scenes of power while the Britons were forced to make heavy sacrifices. “Whatever the original intention, what happened in many of these meetings and the way they were conducted was not in line with the Covid guidelines at the time,” writes the senior official pointing out ” a large number of people (83) who participated in these events broke the regulations and therefore the Covid directives.
For her, the responsibility lies with the most senior leaders, believing that “some of the less experienced officials believed that their participation in some of these events was permissible given the presence of senior leaders”. Without naming those responsible or recommending sanctions, it thus calls into question the power at the highest level for these events which “should not have been authorized to occur”.
Congratulating the changes that have been made in the organization of 10 Downing Street since her last report dating back to last January, Sue Gray is nevertheless indignant at having been informed of “multiple examples of lack of respect and ill-treatment towards the security and cleaning staff”, a situation which she considers “unacceptable”.
Many anecdotes punctuate this eloquent report. Among them, e-mails sent for the organization of a party on May 20, 2020 nicknamed “Bring back your alcohol”. In one of the messages relayed by the report, a special adviser warned the Prime Minister’s main private secretary, Martin Reynolds, that it would be “helpful” if people avoided “walking around with bottles of wine” before the party: ” This evening is a very good idea (…) I’m just pointing out that the press conference will probably end around this time, so it would be useful if people were attentive to the departure of the speakers and the cameras, and don’t walk around brandishing bottles of wine, etc.”
Lee Cain, the communications director (a special adviser) of Downing Street at the time, also received an invitation. In response, he emailed Martin Reynolds and Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister’s senior adviser until 2020, saying: “I’m sure everything will be fine and I applaud the gesture, but an invitation from over 200 people having a drink in the garden of No 10 is a bit risky in terms of communication in the current environment. The event will still take place and will gather, according to the report, between 30 and 40 people in the garden of the residence.
The next day, a special adviser sends a thank you email to Martin Reynolds: “Hi Martin, Thank you very much for organizing this aperitif and for providing the wine! It’s very kind and I know that everyone appreciated it. ” To which the interested party replied: “Thank you, it was very fun and pleasant to discuss with everyone”. In a WhatsApp message referring to the evening, Martin Reynolds also wrote: “Good luck – it won’t make an article, but it’s better than focusing on our drinks (which it seems we don’t be drawn).”
This is just one of the many examples of party organizations outside of a legal framework in the era of drastic restrictions to fight against Covid-19. The report notes more than a dozen events, including the surprise birthday organized for Boris Johnson on June 19, 2020, with supporting photos.
The day before this birthday party, another party was organized over several hours with the key, “excessive consumption of alcohol by certain individuals”, notes the report according to which one of the participants was even sick and that two others allegedly had “a minor altercation”.
Dominic Cummings, his former senior adviser quoted several times in the report, believes Boris Johnson ‘doesn’t think he’s done anything wrong, as he repeatedly said in 2020 ‘Everybody better get remember that I’m the fucking Fuhrer here'”, he denounced in a tweet.
The leader of the Labor opposition Keir Starmer unsurprisingly called for the resignation of the head of the British government to “restore dignity” in power: “You cannot both make the law and break it”. But the latter is himself weakened by an ongoing police investigation into the “beergate”, these beers and curries shared with his campaign team last year despite the restrictions.
“The question of what disciplinary action should now be taken is outside the scope of this report and must be considered by others,” concludes Sue Gray, however. And in the absence of elections, will these new elements be sufficient to rekindle the anger within the majority, a peaceful time, or even to demonstrate that the head of government has lied to Parliament by assuring that no rule had been violated? An option that could hasten his departure.
The police investigation concluded last week by revealing the scale of breaches of anti-Covid rules imposed by Downing Street in response to the pandemic which has claimed nearly 180,000 lives in the UK. A total of 126 fines issued for breaches in eight events, including one to Boris Johnson himself for his surprise birthday drink. This assessment was nevertheless considered relatively lenient for the Prime Minister, who had participated in seemingly more serious rallies.
Boris Johnson has always refused to resign. But if the new elements published convince more than fifty members of the majority to let go of him, he risks finding himself targeted by a motion of no confidence, almost three years after his triumphant arrival in Downing Street in the midst of the psychodrama of Brexit.
The report could also fuel accusations of lies that will be examined by another planned investigation, this one parliamentary. If the latter concludes that he misled the House of Commons by claiming not to have broken the rules, he is supposed to resign.
