Standards at heart of Government 'fell well short' of what public should have expected, Sue Gray rules

So-called ‘wine-time Fridays’, booze-fuelled socialising into the early hours, red wine being spilled up the wall, and a pattern of bad attitudes towards security and cleaning staff were all among the details in the senior civil servant’s 37-page report into lockdown breaking parties across Whitehall.

Boris Johnson later said he had thought it was his “duty” to bid farewell to colleagues departing Downing Street and that he “overwhelmingly” believes he should remain in office, despite the “bitter and painful” conclusions of Ms Gray.

It came as a Yorkshire Conservative MP called on the Prime Minister to “resign”, saying the country is at a time where “we cannot have any doubt over the honesty, integrity, and personal character of the Prime Minister”.

The report said the “senior leadership” in No 10 must “bear responsibility” for the culture which led to lockdown rules being broken at a series of events in 2020 and 2021.

It also referred back to “failures of leadership and judgement” revealed in Ms Gray’s interim report earlier this year.

“The events that I investigated were attended by leaders in government. Many of these events should not have been allowed to happen,” she said. “The senior leadership at the centre, both political and official, must bear responsibility for this culture.

“Many will be dismayed that behaviour of this kind took place on this scale at the heart of Government.

“The public have a right to expect the very highest standards of behaviour in such places and clearly what happened fell well short of this.”

Mr Johnson said he takes “full responsibility” but sought to play down his personal involvement in the gatherings detailed in the report by the senior official and defied fresh calls to step down.

One such call came from York Outer Tory MP Julian Sturdy, who had waited for the conclusion of the Scotland Yard investigation and Ms Gray’s report before making a statement.

In a statement posted on Twitter yesterday, Mr Sturdy said: “The Sue Gray report clearly shows that the Prime Minister has presided over a widespread culture of disregard for coronavirus regulations.

“Furthermore, questions are now being raised about whether the Prime Minister misled Parliament when asked about these events.”

He added: “This is clearly a time when we cannot have any doubt over the honesty, integrity, and personal character of the Prime Minister.

“While I thought it important to wait for the conclusion of the Metropolitan Police investigation and the publication of the Sue Gray report, I am now unable to give the Prime Minister the benefit of the doubt and feel it is now in the public interest for him to resign.”

Meanwhile, former Cabinet Minister and MP for Haltemprice and Howden David Davis, who had previously called for the Prime Minister to go, said he does not regret doing so and he has had “a million supporters” since.

Snap polling yesterday afternoon suggested that almost three in five of Britons think that he should resign over the scandal.

However, the vast majority do not think that this will happen.