Three senior civil servants lobbied Sue Gray not to publish some names of those attending lockdown parties, it was claimed today.
In response, the Whitehall enforcer, who was assembling her Partygate probe report, allegedly told them to “instruct” her to make the changes – signalling publicly that she opposed them, the Sunday Times reported.
The aides were named by the paper as permanent secretary Samantha Jones, Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, and Alex Chisholm, the permanent secretary in the Cabinet Office.
It came as Downing Street was hit with fresh claims that an alleged “Abba party” in the No10 flat was removed from the report.
Downing Street admitted an official saw parts of it before publication.
In the end, several people were named in it, however No10 flatly denied reports in the Sunday Times that the document was “changed by No10” in its final stages – a move that would cast doubt over its independence.
A No10 source said: “It is untrue any- one on the political side saw anything in advance or sought to influence it.”
A draft of the report had referred to music being played from Boris and Carrie Johnson’s Downing Street flat on November 13, 2020, new reports claim.
The draft also said what time the gathering finished, it is claimed – with other parties in No10 carrying on as late as 4am. But neither of these details were in the final report.
The final version said Ms Gray had decided it was not “appropriate or proportionate” to probe further after police did not fine anyone for the event.
Mr and Mrs Johnson and a group of special advisors were in the flat on the night of November 13, when indoor social gatherings were banned.
It was claimed Abba hit The Winner Takes it All was played after Dominic Cummings was forced out of No10.
Mrs Johnson has denied the claims previously and Mr Johnson last week claimed it had been a work meeting.
No10 has also not completely ruled out the prospect that Ms Gray changed her report herself after communication from Downing Street.
The PM’s official spokesman told the Mirror last Thursday: “I don’t know when changes were made in the process of drafting the report.”
It comes after two insiders told the Mirror that the document was looked at before publication by Mr Johnson’s Chief of Staff Steve Barclay, who allegedly requested changes.
They said the section covering a gathering in the Downing Street flat was “edited” on Tuesday night.
On claims Mr Barclay asked for changes about the ‘Abba party’ Mr Lewis said: “10 Downing Street have said this claim is not correct, it’s untrue.
“And I would say it’s backed up that police did not see anything there that required anyone being fined.”
A third source claimed the passage about the flat had been changed but they did not know who by.
Brandon Lewis, Northern Ireland Secretary, said he was “absolutely confident” that senior figures in No 10 did not seek to influence the Sue Gray report into lockdown parties.
A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “The report was impartially conducted.
“As with all investigation reports, the process of obtaining formal representations from those perceived to be criticised prior to publication took place.”
