Boris Johnson resists calls to resign as wait for Sue Gray report continues

The Prime Minister insisted that he is “getting on with the job”, but admitted that there were people who “want me out of the way” when he spoke in the House of Commons yesterday.

Parliament and politics more generally has been somewhat paralysed amid the waiting game for the report by senior civil servant Sue Gray.

Business in the House of Commons wrapped up before 5pm yesterday.

The contents of Ms Gray’s report could play a significant role in deciding the fate of Mr Johnson’s leadership, with Tory critics waiting for its findings before deciding if they will submit formal letters of no confidence in him or not.

An indication of how damaging the report could be for the Government came when Scotland Yard chief Dame Cressida Dick announced a police inquiry was being carried out, based in part on evidence obtained by the Gray investigation.

During Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday lunchtime, Mr Johnson was asked by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer if he would quit.

It was the latest in a long line of calls from the Labour benches for the Prime Minister to resign.

Sir Keir suggested Mr Johnson had misled Parliament about Downing Street parties, something which would normally require a minister to resign.

Asked if he would now quit, the Prime Minister said: “No.”

Sir Keir said: “We now have the shameful spectacle of a Prime Minister of the United Kingdom being subject to a police investigation, unable to lead the country, incapable of doing the right thing and every day his Cabinet fail to speak out they become more and more complicit.”

He said Mr Johnson and his Government had “shown nothing but contempt for the decency, honesty and respect that define this country”.

Mr Johnson replied: “Of course he wants me out of the way – he does, and of course I don’t deny, for all sorts of reasons, many people may want me out of the way.”

As of last night, the issue of what form the Gray report will be published in appeared to be a source of tension between the inquiry team and No 10.

Sources close to the probe expect it to be published in full, although ultimately it is a matter for Mr Johnson to decide.

Downing Street said it is the “intention” to publish the report in the format in which Mr Johnson receives it.

“It is simply a reflection of the fact that we have not received the findings and don’t know its format, that’s why it remains our intention to publish it as received,” the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said.

Mr Johnson and his allies have spent the last few days speaking to MPs trying to win round solid support.

There are worries that publication of the report could lead to a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister’s leadership if its publication leads 54 Tories – 15 per cent of the Parliamentary party – to submit a letter of no confidence to Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 committee.

A number of Conservatives have gone public with the fact that they have already submitted a letter of no confidence, however the total figure is kept as a closely guarded secret by Sir Graham, and the public will only be informed if the threshold for a vote is met.

The steady stream of alleged breaches of lockdown rules have undermined the Prime Minister, but many critics have held off putting in formal letters of no confidence until Ms Gray’s report is released.

One letter was presumably ripped up last week however, as MP for Bury South Christian Wakeford was one of the Tories who had been open about the fact he had submitted a letter, but he defected to the Labour Party just before Prime Minister’s Questions last week.