SUE Gray reportedly had a private meeting with Boris Johnson and is thought to have discussed the contents of her report into the Partygate scandal prior to its publication.
The senior Cabinet Office civil servant is likely to released in full next week and it is expected to go into further detail about the specifics and the level of lawbreaking that went on in the corridors of power during lockdown.
Sources close to the Prime Minister and Gray have played down the significance of the meeting but confirmed to Sky News it did take place.
Details of what was discussed are vague but they may have spoke about whether pictures of rule-breaking incidents will be included in the report.
Sources told Sky News because the Prime Minister commissioned the report and because he has expressed a desire for it to be as full as possible, he would not have urged her to drop the report.
The pair would not have discussed the judgements reached by Gray in the report, multiple sources told Sky.
Gray’s initial report, released in abridged form before the conclusion of the Metropolitan Police investigation into Downing Street lawbreaking, was damning.
It described widespread rule breaking in No.10 and Whitehall and condemned “failures of leadership and judgement” as well as a culture of boozing among Johnson’s top team.
It was claimed on Friday that fines for the incident disproportionately affected junior, relatively poorly paid employees in the Downing Street, as well as women.
Scotland Yard has now concluded its investigation into the incidents, handing out 126 fines to 83 people, including the Prime Minister, his wife and the Chancellor.
A Downing Street spokesman added: "Sue Gray is compiling the report independently and how she does that, and the contents of it, and what is presented is entirely a matter for her."
