Today was supposed to be D-Day. The moment at which Sue Gray’s long-awaited report would focus minds within the Conservative Party.
For weeks the public has been told it is only right to wait for her investigation to be completed. That this would be the time for Tory MPs wavering over whether to submit their letters of no confidence to the 1922 Committee to hand them over or rip them up.
Instead, Met Commissioner Cressida Dick’s announcement has added a new layer of danger for the PM, but also an off-ramp for backbenchers.
That it is being greeted as potentially good news that Number 10 is to face a criminal investigation from the Metropolitan Police over alleged lockdown parties in Downing Street is ironic to say the least.
Whether or not criminal activity took place in Downing Street is a matter for the Met to investigate and they should be given time to do so.But the key question for MPs remains the same: did the Prime Minister mislead Parliament?
Ultimately, the job of civil servants is to advise on policy and the police to enforce the law. It is for politicians to take political decisions. MPs will have to make theirs about the Prime Minister sooner or later.
