The Sue Gray has just been released. Guido will precis the findings as we get through Sue’s findings. Prepare for potential disappointment – much of the sexy stuff will have been blocked from publication by the Met…
Sky’s Sam Coates spells out what hacks will be looking for in the report:
CONCLUSION:
“a number of these gatherings should not have been allowed to take place or to develop in the way that they did. There is significant learning to be drawn from these events which must be addressed immediately across Government. This does not need to wait for the police investigations to be concluded.”
General findings:
3. “At times it seems there was too little thought given to what was happening across the country in considering the appropriateness of some of these gatherings, the risks they presented to public health and how they might appear to the public. There were failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No 10 and the Cabinet Office at different times. Some of the events should not have been allowed to take place. Other events should not have been allowed to develop as they did.
4. The excessive consumption of alcohol is not appropriate in a professional workplace at any time. Steps must be taken to ensure that every Government Department has a clear and robust policy in place covering the consumption of alcohol in the workplace.”
7. […] “The leadership structures are fragmented and complicated and this has sometimes led to the blurring of lines of accountability. Too much responsibility and expectation is placed on the senior official whose principal function is the direct support of the Prime Minister. This should be addressed as a matter of priority.”
This report seems underwhelming in both findings and quantity. It is. Gray clarifies that almost all the events she was investigating – 16 – only four aren’t being investigated by the Met police inquiry:
Despite the Met not investigating these four above events, Gray says she decided against detailing any of them, albeit claiming “without detriment to the overall balance of the findings.”
