From 11.22am GMT
No 10 has now received Sue Gray’s partygate ‘update’, Cabinet Office says
No 10 has now received the Sue Gray report, the Cabinet Office says.
Or at least a version of it. Here is the statement from a Cabinet Office spokesperson:
We can confirm that Sue Gray has provided an update on her investigations to the prime minister.
The description of the report as an “update” implies that Gray definitely does not see it as the finished version (she has had to leave out the most incriminating material at the request of the police), and perhaps that she does envisage publishing a final version once the police inquiry is over.
The use of the word “update” rather than report may also imply that the document coming today is even more minimal than anticipated.
Updated at 11.28am GMT
Not publishing Sue Gray report in full after police inquiry would be ‘disgraceful’, says Ed Davey
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, says Downing Street’s failure to commit to publishing the full Sue Gray report once the police inquiry is over (see 12.38pm and 12.58pm) is “disgraceful”. He said:
The fact that No 10 is back-pedalling on ever releasing the whole Sue Gray report is as disgraceful as it is predictable. This whole shambolic and dishonest government must be brought down.
Boris Johnson must confirm that the full report will be published as soon as possible. Every day it is delayed prolongs the pain for the millions across the country who just want answers and for justice to be done.
Updated at 1.38pm GMT
Summary of No 10 lobby briefing
And here is a full summary of the main lines from Downing Street lobby briefing.
- The PM’s spokesman said the report from Sue Gray received by No 10 today would be published before Boris Johnson’s statement to MPs at 3.30pm, in the form it was submitted this morning.
- The spokesman refused to say that a full report, including the most incriminating material being omitted today at the request of the police, would be published in future. Asked about this, he said:
Obviously we will need to consider what might be appropriate and we are discussing with the Cabinet Office team in due course about what might be appropriate, but at the moment it is unclear how the ongoing Met police investigation might interact with any further work on that. But obviously it’s something we will want to keep under review.
Asked again if the public would ever see a fuller version of the Gray report, the spokesman said: “That’s one of the things I can’t confirm at this point simply because we need to discuss that with the Met and others about what is suitable.”
- The spokesman refused to confirm that, if Johnson received a fixed penalty notice (a fine) for breaking lockdown rules, he would make that public. Asked if he would, the spokesman said that was a hypothetical question.
- The spokesman said that Johnson spoke to Gray about her report yesterday. He said:
My understanding is they spoke briefly yesterday. I think they briefly discussed the findings. I don’t know exactly what they discussed.
- The spokesman refused to comment on a report in the Sunday Times yesterday saying Johnson had been told not to take intelligence papers into his flat after an aide saw them left lying around there where any visitor could read them. The spokessman said he would not comment on security arrangements. But he claimed the PM followed the necessary rules and guidance relating to such material.
- Johnson will speak to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, this afternoon, the spokesman said.
- Johnson will visit Ukraine tomorrow for a meeting with the president, Volodymyr Zelensky, the spokesman said. Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, will travel with him.

Updated at 1.06pm GMT
No 10 refuses to commit to publishing Sue Gray report in full after police inquiry
At the Downing Street lobby briefing the prime minister’s spokesperson refused to say whether, once the police inquiry is over, the full Sue Gray report, including all the most incriminating material being withheld at the Met’s request from the document being published today, would be released.
These are from my colleague Peter Walker.
Peter Walker (@peterwalker99)
Confirmed by No 10 today: the heavily edited/slimline version of the Sue Gray report might be all that MPs and the public ever see – no commitment to publish it in full even after the Met police investigation is over. Won’t do much to ease fears it’s a cover-up.
Peter Walker (@peterwalker99)
PM’s spokesman: “At this stage, we will need to consider what might be appropriate, & will be discussing with [Gray’s team] in due course about what might be appropriate. But at the moment it’s unclear how ongoing Met police investigation might interact with any further work.”
Updated at 1.32pm GMT
No 10 says Sue Gray’s report to be published ahead of PM’s Commons statement at 3.30pm
Downing Street has confirmed that it will published the Sue Gray report – or at least the vanilla version out today (see 11.22am) – before Boris Johnson delivers his statement to MPs at 3.30pm.
It will be published on the government’s website.
We have not got an exact timing. Sometimes a document like this might appear an hour or so before the Commons statement, but more often than not it drops much closer to the start of the ministerial speech in the chamber.
Updated at 12.56pm GMT
From Times Radio’s Tom Newton Dunn
Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn)
I’m told Gray’s use of the word ‘update’ to describe what she has handed to No10 rather than ‘report’ is very pregnant. Because of the omissions forced by the Met, she is adamant it is not the finished article, and by implication should not be seen by anyone as the final word.
There will be two other statements in the Commons after Boris Johnson’s, according to the parliamentary authorities. Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, will make a statement on Russian sanctions, and that will be followed by a statement from Sajid Javid, the health secretary, on the compulsory vaccine requirement for NHS workers. (See 9.42am.)
Johnson to make statement to MPs at 3.30pm on Sue Gray report
The Commons authorities have announced that Boris Johnson will make a statement to MPs at 3.30pm on the Sue Gray report.
In its press release on the “Brexit freedoms” bill, Downing Street cites the vaccine rollout as one of the benefits of Brexit. Simon Clarke, the chief secretary to the Treasury, made the same claim during his morning interview round, telling LBC: “The biggest single benefit [from Brexit] came in the form of the vaccine programme … in terms of both procuring vaccines and getting them safely licensed.”
The claim that vaccine approval was quicker in the UK because of Brexit is not true (see here or here, for example). It is arguable that a pro-European government might have been more willing to participate in the EU’s vaccine procurement programme than Boris Johnson’s, but that is supposition, not fact. Some EU countries made their own vaccine procurement arrangements, and even when it was in the EU, the UK frequently acted unilaterally when it could (as it could on this issue).
As Adam Bienkov from Byline Times reports, Clarke came out with another erroneous claim in a separate interview.
Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov)
“I do not believe that he does lie,” says Simon Clarke, after being given two well-documented examples of Boris Johnson lying, and then being sacked for it. pic.twitter.com/owFvYWoFXh
Updated at 12.10pm GMT
This is from Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, with the latest on her talks with the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Maroš Šefčovič, on the Northern Ireland protocol. Neither side has given much away on how the talks are going, but even the reference to a “good call” marks an improvement from the days when Lord Frost was negotiating for the UK, and relations were (in all respects) frostier.
Liz Truss (@trussliz)
Good call with @MarosSefcovic this morning. I am focussed on reaching a solution to the NI Protocol that works for all sides and look forward to meeting him again in London later this week. pic.twitter.com/eEX8MioXEN
Updated at 11.39am GMT
From the Mail on Sunday’s Dan Hodges
(((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges)
This is what I was talking about last week. We’ll get Sue Gray I. Then we’ll get the Met, with inevitable fines. Then we’ll get Sue Gray The Director’s Cut. Idea Boris will be “moving on” from this is for the birds…
No 10 has now received Sue Gray’s partygate ‘update’, Cabinet Office says
No 10 has now received the Sue Gray report, the Cabinet Office says.
Or at least a version of it. Here is the statement from a Cabinet Office spokesperson:
We can confirm that Sue Gray has provided an update on her investigations to the prime minister.
The description of the report as an “update” implies that Gray definitely does not see it as the finished version (she has had to leave out the most incriminating material at the request of the police), and perhaps that she does envisage publishing a final version once the police inquiry is over.
The use of the word “update” rather than report may also imply that the document coming today is even more minimal than anticipated.
Updated at 11.28am GMT
Johnson claims ‘Brexit freedoms’ bill will boost investment in UK
And here are two more lines from Boris Johnson’s pooled interview this morning at Tilbury.
- Johnson confirmed that Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, is preparing a package of measures to help people cope with the rising cost of energy. He said:
We all understand the pressures that the cost-of-living crunch is putting on people and it is being driven by the inflation you are seeing around the world, particularly in energy costs. So, we’re going to be bringing forward … I know the chancellor is looking at a package of things to abate energy costs.
- He claimed the proposed “Brexit freedoms” bill would boost investment. He said:
There are things we can do differently and we think in a way that will encourage business to invest even more,” he told broadcasters during a visit to Tilbury docks.
In all the areas where the UK is strong – cyber, artificial intelligence, all the cutting-edge technologies of the future – we are going to make sure we do things differently and better, where appropriate.
We won’t diverge for the sake of it but we are going to make sure this is the number one place to do business and invest because of the freedoms that we have.
Obviously, any investment boost would have to be extraordinary to come even close to compensating for the 4% reduction in GDP that the UK is expected to suffer in the long term as a result of Brexit, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.
Updated at 11.29am GMT
From the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg
Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak)
Source says PM has told cabinet colleagues to expect Gray report later today