First results from Sue Gray’s investigation into lockdown socializing at government buildings have finally been released.
They point to “failures in leadership and judgment” and excessive alcohol consumption in the workplace against the background of the pandemic.
Sue Gray said 16 incidents fell within the purview of her investigation and 12 of those are currently under investigation by Met police.
This includes three events that have not previously been reported.
- The 16 events took place on a dozen dates between May 2020 and April 2021
- They all took place at 10 Downing Street or the Cabinet Office, with the exception of one at the Department of Education
- Two of three previously unreported events took place at No. 10, the other at the Cabinet Office
- Among the 12 events police are investigating are the drinks in Downing Street garden attended by the Prime Minister on May 20, 2020
- Other events under police investigation include a birthday celebration for Mr Johnson in the Cabinet Room on June 19, 2020
- Officers are investigating a gathering at apartment #10 on November 13, 2020
At the heart of the report are the General Findings, a few succinct paragraphs that lay out the main thrust of Sue Gray’s criticism.
She says some events shouldn’t have happened and others shouldn’t have unfolded the way they did.
Four main areas stand out:
A nation in pandemic
- There is a certain behavior at the meetings “Hard to Justify” because the public has been asked to do so “accept far-reaching limitations in their lives”
- Some of the events represent a “Serious Non-Compliance” standards for government and those expected of the public at the time
- Sometimes it seems that way “too little thought” given what was going on in the country, the risk to public health and how the events might appear to the public
failure of leadership
- There was “Leadership and judgment failure” from different parts of No. 10 and the Cabinet Office at different times
- Some of the events “should not have happened”. Other events “shouldn’t be allowed to develop like this”
- It should be “Easier ways for employees to raise concerns informal, outside the chain of command”
A drinking culture
- the “Excessive alcohol consumption is not appropriate at any time in a professional workplace”
- Every government agency should have one “clear and robust policy for alcohol consumption”
- your team interviewed 70 people, some more than once – although none are named
- They also investigated Emails, WhatsApp messages and text messages
- Photographs and building entry and exit logs were also looked at
- She did not comment on whether individual events complied with Covid rules, adding that it was “inappropriate” while police are investigating
- What she can say about the police investigation into the events is “extremely limited”
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