Sue Gray’s report into the Downing Street parties has finally been published – and Twitter exploded.
The senior civil servant was tasked by Boris Johnson to look into the alleged social gatherings said to have taken place in No.10 throughout lockdown.
Her full report was expected to be the tipping point for many Tory backbenchers considering whether to oust the prime minister – but last week, the Metropolitan Police announced they were now investigating the parties too.
This meant Gray could only make “minimal reference” to the gatherings where there may be evidence of a Covid rule breach.
The 12-page report released to the public on Monday was therefore heavily redacted from the original, and has been described as an “update” by Gray.
Still, it included some scathing criticism of the prime minister.
She said the behaviour of those at the parties is “difficult to justify”, there was a “failure of leadership” and “some of the events should not have been allowed” while the “excessive consumption of alcohol is not appropriate”.
It also revealed that of the 16 gatherings she investigated (more than have been mentioned in the media), only four are not being investigated by the police.
Gray also suggested she has not handed the full report to Johnson just yet, and has more information to come once the police investigation is over.
The prime minister told the Commons that he accepted the reports’ findings in full and apologised.
Here’s how Twitter responded: