You never want to be the one who has to find a meeting room in Whitehall. There are never any going spare and, at least in my experience, the Cabinet Office (1916-2022) block books them all months in advance so you end up discussing the Northern Ireland Executive’s draft budget while leaning against a discoloured sofa behind the Treasury cafeteria.
But the who done it - whether Sue Gray initiated the meeting or Boris Johnson, is more than a technicality. Firstly, and without wishing to be overly earnest about it, ministers telling the truth matters.
This morning, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke, hitherto best known for being much taller than the Chancellor, claimed that Gray had “instigated” the meeting and that this was to talk through the practicalities of publishing photos connected with the report.
By the afternoon, Number 10 admitted that its officials had “initially suggested” Gray meet with the Prime Minister. So, effectively, the calendar invite came from the civil servant, but the idea for the meeting itself was Number 10’s. I can’t imagine Clarke will have been particularly amused by this turn of events.
This follows some briefing against Gray in the press. The Daily Mail reports one Tory insider as saying “Sue Gray is supposed to be neutral but she’s been busy playing politics and enjoying the limelight a little too much.” To which I say, no cheating: hands up if you can even describe what Gray looks or sounds like?
But there is a second and far more revealing lesson. Because the question of who arranged the meeting gets to the very heart of the problem.
Yesterday, Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said that Johnson had, throughout the process, “allowed Sue Gray to conduct herself independently“. And here’s the rub. This is not and could never be an independent process. Not because Sue Gray isn’t a person of integrity, but because she is a civil servant, who ultimately reports to the Prime Minister.
Elsewhere in the paper, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show is back in its traditional slot. Themes and our guide on designers to look out for are here. Melanie McDonagh has written a delightful piece that if memory serves me rightly was pitched initially to be about the Show but is in fact about gardens and allotments and “embittered would-be horticulturalists.”
In the comment pages, I reveal that my getting punched in the face served only as a reminder that Norah Ephron was right: everything is copy. I also find time to lament that Man City’s money has made Liverpool (Liverpool!) the nation’s sentimental favourites.
And finally, London foxes: urban menace or misunderstood? And what of the people adopting them as pets? Sophie Church investigates.
