By demanding that key elements be redacted from a long-awaited administrative report into the Downing Street holiday scandal, which threatens Prime Minister Boris Johnson, British police sparked outrage on Friday.
For several days, the publication of this report, written by senior civil servant Sue Gray, on the leaving drinks, garden parties and Christmas or birthday parties organized in the Prime Minister’s main residence in 2020 and 2021 has kept the British press and politicians.
The document is late in being published
But the document is slow to be published, according to the press, because of questions about what may appear in it, while the police in turn seized the scandal, upsetting the calendar. After being criticized for their slowness to react to the revelations which had followed one another for several weeks, the police finally announced on Tuesday that they were investigating several parties which would have contravened the strict anti-Covid rules, potentially the most damaging for Prime Minister Boris Johnson. “For the events being investigated by the Met (London police), we have asked to make only a minimal reference in the report of the Cabinet Office”, interdepartmental agency on which depends the work of Sue Gray, London Metropolitan Police said in a brief statement.
“The Met has not asked for any limitations on other events in the report, or for the report to be pushed back, but contacts are ongoing with the Cabinet office, including on the content of the report, to avoid prejudice to our investigation. “, she added. The report promises to be potentially largely watered down, deprived of its conclusions on the events retained by the police as the most likely to have breached the confinements. Unless its publication is suspended until the conclusions of the police, which can take several months.
‘Broken’ trust
Immediately, the opposition parties demanded the publication, in its entirety and without censorship, of the internal investigation, as promised by Boris Johnson on several occasions. On Twitter, the leader of the SNP independence party in parliament, Ian Blackford, lamented “what looks more and more like a concealment of the truth”.
The families of the victims of the coronavirus are also offended. For Fran Hall, spokesperson for the association “Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice”, the police have “broken public trust, first by refusing to investigate these flagrant violations of the law, and now by asking that another investigation cover up the most serious illegalities that have taken place in Downing Street”. These parties have plunged Boris Johnson into a serious crisis which threatens his retention in his post, the calls for the resignation having multiplied even in the conservative majority. Many members of his camp are waiting for the publication of the internal report to decide whether or not to try to oust him by means of a vote of no confidence.
“Total independence”
The government has denied any intervention. Asked about ITV, the Secretary of State for Technology, Chris Philp, claimed that the executive had “no influence or involvement in the way Sue Gray and the police conduct their reports and investigation”, insisting on their ” total independence.
In the eyes of some political commentators, this announcement is however timely for Boris Johnson, who is thus gaining time as he tries, to save his place, to appease the most rebellious deputies. According to the newspaper The Timesthe head of government is thus considering several measures that could bring them together, such as suspending, to the great displeasure of the Treasury, the announced increase in social security contributions, in the midst of inflation which is cutting into the purchasing power of the British.