Downing Street has refused to deny that a social event took place in Boris Johnson’s flat during lockdown that was not considered by the Sue Gray inquiry, but officials insisted there is no need to reopen any investigations and that the matter is closed.
Labour has called for an investigation into leaked text messages, reported over the weekend, suggesting Johnson and his wife, Carrie, met two friends in their flat on the prime minister’s birthday, 19 June 2020, when indoor socialising was banned.
Asked whether the alleged event would be looked into, Johnson’s deputy spokesman said on Monday Gray had been able to examine any gathering for which there was “credible evidence”, adding that her inquiry and that by the Metropolitan police had both been completed.
Asked repeatedly if he would deny that a gathering took place inside the flat on the evening in question, the spokesman refused to do so.
“I have seen the same reporting that you have, but this is covered in the terms of reference in Sue Gray’s report, where she clearly says that any other gatherings where she received credible allegations would be looked into,” he said.
Asked if that meant simply that Gray did not know of any evidence of a 19 June event, but that some could have emerged since, he said: “I’m pointing to the process that Sue Gray followed in producing her report.”
Responding to the comments, Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, said Johnson “must come clean with the British people”.
She said: “Less than a week after the release of the Gray report, this raises serious questions about whether Downing Street has been caught lying yet again and why the event has not been investigated.”
It is alleged that a Downing Street aide received a text from Carrie Johnson confirming that she was with two male friends in the flat on the date in June, where the prime minister later joined them. This was the same day as the birthday celebration for Johnson in the cabinet room, for which he and Carrie were both fined.
According to the Sunday Times, the aide wrote to the cabinet secretary, Simon Case, stating they had made an offer to share the messages which Gray’s team ignored.
In another apparent confusion, Johnson’s deputy spokesman said it was not known which No 10 staff might have been rude to cleaners and security guards in the building, despite briefings from other officials that the culprits were known.
On 25 May, after Gray’s report disclosed “multiple examples of a lack of respect and poor treatment of security and cleaning staff”, No 10 informally briefed reporters that it knew who had done this, and that they no longer worked at Downing Street.
But questioned about this, the spokesman said he did not know if those responsible had been identified after all.
“You’ve seen the report which sets out Sue Gray’s findings, and you’ve seen the details of those named within that report,” he said. “We would not necessarily know the individuals. It was Sue Gray who investigated.”
The Cabinet Office has defended the integrity of Gray’s report, saying it was “impartially conducted and its contents represent the findings and conclusions of the investigation team alone”.
It was previously reported that a gathering was held in the Johnsons’ flat on 13 November 2020, with food and alcohol available and loud Abba music being played. Gray admitted she had stopped investigating that particular event when the Met started their investigations, and chose not to pursue her inquiry afterwards.
