Furious bereaved families, ex-cops and MPs accuse ‘incompetent’ Met chief of a Partygate ‘stitch up’

Cressida Dick and Scotland Yard were slammed for a ‘stitch up’ and ‘Whitehall farce’ today after demanding Sue Gray’s Partygate report is watered down.

Tories, lawyers and ex-officers have joined a furious backlash after police confirmed they have told the Cabinet Office the long-awaited document should feature ‘minimal reference’ to lockdown breaches that might be criminal.

The announcement has thrown the situation into complete chaos, with Ms Gray now considering pausing the process rather than releasing a version that would inevitably be condemned as a whitewash. 

Police waited until the report was all-but complete to launch their own investigation into some of the allegations on Tuesday, but initially briefed they were still happy for the civil servant’s findings to be published in full. 

On Friday evening, the Metropolitan Police confirmed they have the evidence they requested from the Cabinet Office, but doubled down on their stance that the report should be redacted in a bid ‘to protect the integrity of the police investigation’.

The BBC has been told that the report is expected to be delivered to the Prime Minister shortly, but an exact timescale was not given to the publication, following concerns that the report could be delayed amid the police probe.

Opposition MPs vented fury at the latest move, which will be a massive relief to Boris Johnson as the Yard probe is not likely to be complete for weeks or even months. Some complained that the events ‘reek of a stitch-up’ while others suggested it was down to ‘incompetence’. 

Ian Blackford, the leader of the SNP in the House of Commons, said: ‘This U.K. government farce has gone on long enough. People are understandably concerned that this increasingly looks like a cover-up.’ 

Former police officers and legal figures questioned the timing and whether publishing the report would really prejudice the police investigation.

Even loyalist Tories conceded the situation is a ‘mess’, saying it should have been obvious the report would have to be put on hold during a criminal investigation. 

Conservative MP Christopher Chope accused the force of ‘usurping its position by seeking to interfere in the affairs of state’. And another veteran backbencher, Sir Roger Gale, a long-term critic of the PM, branded the manoeuvring ‘ridiculous’.

He told BBC Radio 4’s The World At One programme: ‘This has all the hallmarks of a Whitehall farce written in Scotland Yard. A while back the Met Police were saying they weren’t going to investigate, then they said they would investigate and the sigh of relief from Downing Street could be heard in the Palace of Westminster as the can was kicked down the road.

‘Then they said it would be OK for Sue Gray to publish her report and now this morning they’re saying it’s not OK, or it is OK but she can’t publish anything that anybody is likely to be interested in – which is ridiculous.

‘Unless there is a legal barrier to Sue Gray publishing her report then I believe that it should be published now and in full.’ 

Downing Street insisted there had been no contact with the Met about the its inquiry, and Ms Gray’s team were in charge of the contents of her report.

One police source told MailOnline of the backlash: ‘It’s almost like there are some people unhappy that a criminal inquiry is under way.’ 

Meanwhile, Theresa May has waded into the Partygate row by expressing her anger at the alleged flouting of lockdown and swiping that ‘nobody is above the law’. 

In a letter to constituents seen by her local newspaper the Maidenhead Advertiser, Mrs May wrote: ‘I have said previously that it is vital that those who set the rules, follow the rules. Nobody is above the law.

‘This is important for ensuring the necessary degree of trust between the public and Government.’  

The campaign group Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice said: ‘Tragically, it seems here that the Metropolitan Police have broken the trust of the public by first refusing to investigate flagrant law breaking, and now demanding any other investigation’s hide the most serious illegalities happening at Downing Street.’ 

In its statement this morning, Scotland Yard said: ‘For the events the Met is investigating, we asked for minimal reference to be made in the Cabinet Office report.

‘The Met did not ask for any limitations on other events in the report, or for the report to be delayed, but we have had ongoing contact with the Cabinet Office, including on the content of the report, to avoid any prejudice to our investigation.’ 

Whitehall sources said ethics chief Sue Gray was facing major hurdles in publishing her full report into the controversy following the Metropolitan Police’s decision to launch a criminal probe (Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick pictured Jan 25)

Nicola Sturgeon said that the ‘murky’ events were creating suspicion that the inquiry process was ‘aiding Johnson at the expense of public accountability’ 

MPs vented anger at the extraordinary volte face by the Met after apparently suggesting earlier in the week that the report could be released in full 

On Friday night, Commander Catherine Roper, who is leading the police investigation into allegations of Covid breaches, confirmed the Met Police had received evidence from the Cabinet Office. 

However, she confirmed that Scotland Yard had asked the Cabinet Office to only make ‘minimal reference’ to potential lockdown breaches in the long-awaited document. 

Commander Roper, who leads the Met’s Central Specialist Crime Command, said: ‘In order to protect the integrity of the police investigation, as is appropriate in any case, and to be as fair as possible to those who are subject to it, the Met has asked for minimal reference to be made in the Cabinet Office report to the relevant events. 

‘This will only be necessary until these matters are concluded, and is to give detectives the most reliable picture of what happened at these events. We intend to complete our investigations promptly, fairly and proportionately.

‘We have not delayed this report and the timing of its release is a matter for the Cabinet Office inquiry team.’ 

Peter Bleksley, a veteran detective, said Dame Cressida had shown a ‘staggering lack of judgement’.

‘Cressida Dick has shown a staggering lack of judgement by not announcing an investigation as soon as the evidence was made public,’ he said.

‘She’s gone too late. A cabinet office investigation should have followed a police investigation, not the other way round.

‘It’s a huge misjudgment and of course it could be perceived as as staggering lack of independence as well. Conspiracy theorists will now think: ‘Of course she’s trying to protect Downing Street’.’

A former director of public prosecutions suggested the Metropolitan Police stance was ‘disproportionate’.

Lord Macdonald told the BBC: ‘The risk of the police intervention this morning is that this leaves things hanging in the air for weeks and months, and that seems obviously not to be in the public interest.

‘If we’re talking about fixed penalty notices – like parking tickets, essentially – if we’re talking about that kind of resolution, then to take the rather grave step to delay a report that is going to shed public light on the subject matter of what may be a major public scandal, I think that is undesirable and I think it may be a misjudgment.

‘But only police know what it is that is really at play here.

‘It is really to say that if we are simply talking about lockdown breaches and fixed penalty notices, this move by the police this morning seems to be disproportionate.’

The crossbench peer said that what was not known was whether Ms Gray had uncovered ‘slightly more complex behaviour that the police believes needs more sense of investigation’, offering the example of ‘the co-ordinated deletion of emails or text messages’ that had possibly ‘raised the stakes and brought forward the consideration of more serious offending into play’.

Nazir Afzal, a former chief Crown prosecutor for the North West, said on Twitter: ‘This is absolute nonsense from the Met Police. A purely factual report by Sue Gray cannot possibly prejudice a police investigation.

‘They just have to follow the evidence, of which the report will be a part.’

Human rights barrister Adam Wagner, who has spent the pandemic interpreting complex coronavirus laws and explaining them to the public on social media, said on Twitter: ‘I am not a criminal lawyer so perhaps I am missing something. How would a factual civil service report about events the police is investigating ‘prejudice’ their investigation?’

The anonymous lawyer and author known as The Secret Barrister then added: ‘I am a criminal lawyer, and I too must be missing something, because there is no reason I can see as to why an independent police criminal investigation would in any way be influenced by, or would seek to influence, a civil service report.’

But Nick Aldworth, a former Metropolitan Police chief superintendent and counter-terrorism national co-ordinator, said the report could prejudice the police investigation ‘by disclosing the evidence that they will gather and thereby giving the potential defendants an opportunity to conceal or alter evidence’.

Publication of official reports and other inquiries can often be delayed until a police investigation and any subsequent court case or inquest is concluded, typically to avoid the risk of prejudicing a jury if a criminal trial was to take place.

But in this instance, if police investigate under the provisions of the coronavirus regulations then there would be little risk of prejudice as the penalty for breaching lockdown rules is a fixed-penalty notice and it is highly unlikely to result in a prosecution. 

Speaking in the Commons, Conservative MP Sir Christopher Chope said the Met’s claim there was a danger of ‘prejudice’ was a ‘specious justification’.

He said: ‘We have got the spectacle today of the Metropolitan Police seeking to interfere with the content of Sue Gray’s report on the specious justification that it wishes to prevent prejudice to a criminal investigation.

‘Yet the only law on the statute book in relation to prejudicing a criminal investigation is relating to proceeds of crime legislation, which is certainly not what we are talking about at the moment.’

He said the Met was ‘usurping its position by seeking to interfere in the affairs of state’.

Raising a point of order, the Christchurch MP said: ‘I thought that it was this House which held the Government to account for its policies, and not the Metropolitan Police.’

He added: ‘There is no reason for the Metropolitan Police to be able to require Sue Gray not to issue her report in an unamended way for the benefit of the Prime Minister who ordered that report, and for this House, which is eager to see that report.

‘It seems that the Metropolitan Police is usurping its position by seeking to interfere in the affairs of state without there being any criminal offences or any grounds for them carrying out such interference.’

Downing Street said it was not the case that No 10 had asked Ms Gray’s team to go back to the Metropolitan Police to ensure her report did not interfere with police investigations.

A spokesman for Boris Johnson said: ‘No, you’ll be aware that the terms of reference clearly set out that the Cabinet Office would keep in contact with the police and again it’s an independent investigation. we haven’t been privy to the details of that investigation or any of its content.

‘So that would be a matter for the investigations team and the Met.’

Asked if No 10 had any conversations with the Met about the Gray report and what could be published, the spokesman said: ‘Not that I’m aware of, no.’

Pushed to clarify that there had been no No10 involvement in the Met’s position, the spokesman said: ‘I believe that’s correct.’

Keir Starmer said the Government had been ‘paralysed’ by the Sue Gray investigation – but stopped short of criticising the Met.

The Labour leader told broadcasters he wanted to ‘see Sue Gray’s report in full and the investigation finished as quickly as possible, because we’re in this situation where the whole of Government is paralysed because the police are looking at what the Prime Minister was getting up to in Downing Street’.

Sir Keir added: ‘We’ve got a criminal investigation into the behaviour of the Prime Minister and what went on in Downing Street. There are bound to be process issues along the way, but this is caused by one thing, and that’s the behaviour of the Prime Minister.’

Asked whether, with his legal background, he saw any issues of prejudice, Sir Keir said: ‘Any issues of prejudice have got to be worked through but this whole mess, this whole of paralysing of politics, is being caused by the Prime Minister and his wrongdoing.’ 

Whitehall sources have admitted top civil servant Ms Gray is now facing major hurdles, with questions over whether it will be worth releasing it at all.

The findings of Ms Gray’s report were passed to the Met at the weekend, prompting Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick to launch a formal investigation on Tuesday into claims that lockdown laws were broken.

There was an immediate expectation that the civil service probe would go on hold, before police surprised many by briefing that they were happy for it to be released in full.

However, in a twist after days of frantic speculation in Westminster it has now been confirmed that the Met is indeed demanding the removal of information that could be prejudicial to their investigation. 

Clarity started to emerge overnight about the way the police had thrown a spanner into the works. 

‘I know there were reports that the Met were fine for it to be published, but that proved not to be the case. Indeed, it’s the opposite,’ one Whitehall source said. 

Another Whitehall source told the Sun: ‘Anything worth reading will now have to be held back. So there comes a point in deciding if it is even worth publishing until it can be run in full.’ 

Tories have been warning Mr Johnson not to try to cover anything up in the report, but there is also bound to be fury at the Met for the way it has bungled the situation. 

Dame Cressida said on Tuesday that it would ‘not normally be’ a proportionate use of the force’s resources to investigate historic allegations of Covid breaches. But, in an ominous comment, she said investigations were carried out for ‘the most serious and flagrant type of breach’ where there was evidence of wrongdoing and no ‘reasonable defence’ – and where failure to act would ‘undermine the legitimacy of the law’.  

Despite the Met’s stance, a former chief superintendent Dal Babu said yesterday that there was no reason the report could not be published in full.

He told Sky News: ‘It is not a judge-led inquiry, she doesn’t have any specific powers to call people to give evidence. So her report will be no different to a human resources report.’

Mr Babu pointed out that the sanction for breaching lockdown rules is a fixed-penalty notice – something he described as an ‘entry-level crime’.  

Former chief whip Mark Harper, a vocal critic of the PM, said he had been moved by ‘heartbreaking’ testimonials from members of the public who were unable to see dying loved ones at a time when No10 staff are said to have held parties.

He said: ‘The report must be published in full. Any attempt to conceal or suppress crucial details would be wrong.’

Sir Keir Starmer said Labour would ‘pursue every option to make sure that report is out in full’.

The report had been due for release on Wednesday but had still not been passed to No10 this morning. Government sources said it was still possible for the report to be published today, with the PM giving a statement to Parliament later. But, with most MPs back in their constituencies, the report will likely not be published until at least Monday – leaving Mr Johnson facing another weekend in limbo.

It comes as Attorney General Suella Braverman was pictured leaving Downing Street at 7pm last night following news that dozens of Downing Street staff are facing fines after it emerged police have a list of people who attended lockdown-breaking parties. 

The rule-breakers are likely to face fines of up to £100, as people who flouted Covid restrictions during lockdowns in England were charged £100 for the first offence.

Individuals that police believe they can prove attended the gatherings at Downing Street will be contacted in the near future and issued with fixed penalty notices, according to The Telegraph.  

They will be forced to pay unless they are able to successfully challenge the fine with a reasonable explanation or evidence as to why they should not be charged.

Under lockdown rules and the Health Protection Act, people who broke Covid restrictions could be awarded fines up to £3,200 for repeated offences, though it is unclear whether people who attended multiple gatherings will face higher fines. 

Many of the individuals expected to receive a fixed penalty notice will not be interviewed by police and will not have their names disclosed to the public.

But senior figures who attended the parties, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and those believed to have organised parties despite knowing they would contravene Covid rules, may well face police interviews. 

What details are contained in Sue Gray’s report is for the senior civil servant and the police to ‘work out between them’, a Government minister has said.

It came after Scotland Yard asked for the Whitehall inquiry into allegations of lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street to make only ‘minimal reference’ to the events being investigated by police.

Technology minister Chris Philp, asked on ITV’s Good Morning Britain programme about the development, said: ‘I saw that report just a few minutes ago.

‘The way that the Sue Gray report gets put together is something that is a matter entirely for Sue Gray. It is up to her and the police how to handle that.

‘Clearly, between Sue Gray and the police, this will get fully investigated – as it should.

‘But the important thing to say is that the Government have no influence and no involvement in how Sue Gray and the police conduct their respective reports and investigations, which is right – it is right they are fully independent.

‘So, between the two of them, they will cover all of the incidents that need investigating so the public and Parliament have a full and proper account. But that is up to Sue Gray and the police to work that out between them – it is not something the Government should or would interfere with.’

It comes as former Cabinet minister Lord Frost urged Boris Johnson to axe ‘all the neo-socialists, green fanatics and pro-woke crowd’ in Downing Street to reset his premiership after the Partygate scandal. 

The row over Covid rule-busting gatherings looks set to drag into next week with Sue Gray still yet to hand over her report to Number 10 – and Tories drawing battle lines over efforts to ‘suppress or conceal’ damaging details. 

Mr Johnson has flatly denied that Ms Gray’s inquiry is being neutered as the wait for the conclusions continues – with complaints that other crucial issues are being ignored.

The PM is under growing pressure from Tory figures to conduct a massive clear out of his current Number 10 operation after the report is made public. 

Lord Frost, the former Brexit minister, tweeted that ‘whatever conclusions about the leadership Tory MPs may draw from the Gray report and whatever follows, the crucial thing is significant change in policies and in systems & people around the PM’. 

Referencing a column written by The Telegraph’s Allister Heath, the peer said: ‘In systems & people – so the levers of government work, and, as Allister says, ‘with all the neo-socialists, green fanatics and pro-woke crowd exiting immediately’.’

The comments from Lord Frost are likely to be seen by some as a jab at Mr Johnson’s wife, Carrie, who is a passionate environmentalist and has been credited with influencing the PM’s previous declaration to pursue a ‘green recovery’ after the Covid pandemic. 

The Prime Minister has faced criticism from some Tory MPs over his ‘green’ policies, with many concerned about the cost of hitting his net zero emissions target. 

Tory MP Mark Harper insisted that there must be no suggestion of a cover-up by No10, as rebels gear up for a coup attempt if the findings condemn Mr Johnson. Taking to Twitter to highlight a ‘heartbreaking’ interview with a man who lost his mother, father and sister to Covid in 2020, Mr Harper said: ‘The report must be published in full. Any attempt to conceal or suppress crucial details would be wrong.’  He was echoed by backbench organiser and former minister Steve Baker. 

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has demanded the report be published ‘in full and as soon as possible’, adding: ‘After what everybody in the country’s been through in the last year or two with the pandemic, huge sacrifices have been made, the least that they’re entitled to is the truth about what the Prime Minister was up to.’

On a visit to Wales yesterday, Mr Johnson said he was ‘absolutely not’ trying to influence the outcome. ‘I am afraid we have got to let the independent inquiry go on,’ he said, adding that the government was ‘getting on with our work’. 

Downing Street said: ‘We are in no way seeking to block the report nor are we seeking to do as Mark Harper suggests. It remains our intention to publish the report as it is received from the investigation.’ 

Aides have raised concerns that Ms Gray was determined to punish politicians and special advisers, suggesting she is on a ‘power trip’. 

Mr Johnson is bracing to acknowledge ‘serious mistakes’ and voice regret for lax enforcement of lockdown rules in No10 if and when the conclusions finally appear. Senior Conservatives are demanding he stages a major clearout of Downing Street staff as the price of staying in power.  

One ally told the Daily Mail yesterday: ‘He knows he has made serious mistakes, but he believes he is still the right man to lead this country.’   

Attorney General Suella Braverman visited No10 last night as it emerged that dozens of Downing Street staff are facing fines after police said they would issue fixed penalty notices to people who attended lockdown-breaking parties (Braverman pictured leaving Downing St at 7pm last night, Jan 27, 2022)

Former Cabinet minister Lord Frost has urged Boris Johnson to axe ‘all the neo-socialists, green fanatics and pro-woke crowd’ in Downing Street to reset his premiership after the Partygate scandal

Tory MP Mark Harper warned No10 today against any effort to ‘conceal or suppress’ details in the Sue Gray report