Downing Street parties: Boris Johnson tells furious MPs to wait for answers as Met Police investigate 12 parties for criminality

It was just 12 pages in total – and two of those were intentionally left blank – but the fallout to Sue Gray’s abridged report is already being felt by Boris Johnson and his Government.

The Prime Minister was last night fighting to save himself from furious Tory MPs and a police investigation after Ms Gray’s pared-back report was finally published.

The Met are now investigating 12 parties allegedly held at the heart of Government, including at least three attended by the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced a grilling by MPs over the Sue Gray report

Ms Gray’s report had threatened to be dead on arrival due to Met interference, but has left Mr Johnson bruised and battling with his own party after pointing to “failures of leadership” in both Downing Street and the Cabinet Office.

The damning report raises more questions than answers, and comes as police investigating the Downing Street parties announced they had given more than 300 photos and 500 pieces of paper.

One of those being investigated is a party allegedly held in the Downing Street flat shared by Mr Johnson and his wife Carrie to celebrate Dominic Cummings’s resignation on November 13, 2020.

The investigation comes despite Mr Johnson having previously told the Commons on December 8 no party took place, sparking serious questions as to whether he has lied to MPs.

Facing attacks after yesterday’s publication of the report, Mr Johnson repeatedly refused to answer questions about his attendance, instead urging MPs to wait for the police investigation.

In a quietly damning report, Ms Gray had blamed “failures of leadership and judgment” in Number 10 and the Cabinet Office for the partygate scandal.

She wrote: “At least some of the gatherings in question represent a serious failure to observe not just the high standards expected of those working at the heart of Government, but also of the standards expected of the entire British population at the time.

“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.”

The report highlighted a drinking culture in Downing Street and "little thought" for what the rest of the the public were going through during the pandemic.

Ms Gray explained it was “not possible at present to provide a meaningful report” setting out all she discovered, due to the ongoing police investigation, but her document still managed to send shockwaves through Westminster.

Mr Johnson apologised and promised "changes" to how Downing Street and the Cabinet Office were run, and even closed his statement by listing his own achievements, but Tory MPs remain furious.

Parties said to be attended by the Prime Minister include the infamous “bring your own booze” party held on May 20, 2020, which Mr Johnson claimed he thought was a work event.

It also includes a surprise birthday party on June 19, 2020, thrown by his wife Carrie, which prompted a minister to claim Mr Johnson was “ambushed by cake” before insisting there was no cake.

Mr Johnson is also reported to have attended a leaving party for his former special adviser Lee Cain.

The Prime Minister now finds himself urging MPs to move on from the report while a police investigation into his own conduct and that of those around him hangs over his premiership.

In Westminster, the atmosphere was febrile, with MPs from across the parties struggling to describe the Prime Minister’s conduct using parliamentary language.

In a rare display of passion and anger, Sir Keir Starmer accused the Prime Minister of being “unfit for office” and demanded he resign.

The Labour leader also made clear he thought this was a scandal that could tarnish the whole Tory party by pointing the finger at Mr Johnson’s Cabinet.

He said: “Of course he won’t [resign] because he is a man without shame and just as he has done throughout his life, he’s damaged everyone and everything around him along the way.

“His colleagues have spent weeks defending the indefensible, touring the TV studios parroting his absurd denials, degrading themselves and their offices, fraying the bond of trust between the Government and the public, eroding our democracy and the rule of law.”

In scenes that sparked despair among Tory MPs, Mr Johnson responded by accusing Sir Keir of failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile, despite it having nothing to do with the Labour leader.

The Prime Minister later accused the Labour frontbench of using drugs when asked about "excessive drug-taking" in Downing Street.

The heated session also saw SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford walk out the House of Commons after accusing Mr Johnson of having “wilfully misled” MPs.

Despite Mr Johnson having denied a party took place in his own flat that is now being investigated by police, it is considered against parliamentary etiquette to make such an assertion.

Tory MPs were also furious, with many saying privately after the session Mr Johnson’s statement had made things worse.

Former prime minister Theresa May piled the pressure on first, challenging her successor to loud cheers from the opposition benches.

She asked: “What the Gray report does show is that Number 10 Downing Street was not observing the regulations they had imposed on members of the public, so either my right honourable friend had not read the rules or didn’t understand what they meant and others around him, or they didn’t think the rules applied to Number 10. Which was it?”

Mr Johnson declined to answer, instead telling Mrs May to wait for the police inquiry.

The Prime Minister was also warned he had lost the backing of senior Tory MP Andrew Mitchell, who told him his "full throated support" was over.

Aaron Bell, an MP in the ‘Red Wall’, also confronted the Prime Minister, asking if he was a "fool" to observe Covid regulations at his grandmother's lockdown funeral.

He said: “I didn’t hug my siblings, I didn’t hug my parents, I gave the eulogy and then afterwards I didn’t even go to her house for a cup of tea. I drove back three hours from Kent to Staffordshire.

“Does the Prime Minister think I’m a fool?”.

Conservative MP Sir Bernard Jenkin appeared to suggest the Prime Minister had some breathing space and would be judged on what happened next.

He said: “The back benches of the Conservative Party need no reminders about how to dispose of a failing leader.

“Can he also, when he is restructuring Number 10, concentrate on the fact that the country wants results. We can’t see the point of such a large Number 10 super-structure, that it needs to be slimmed down and streamlined, and can I commend his determination to restore Cabinet Government and it is on results over the next few months on which he will be judged.”

Mr Johnson replied: “I’m more than content to be judged on the results, what we’ve already delivered and the results that we will deliver.”

There was also immense pressure over the publication of the full version of Ms Gray’s report when the police investigation was over.

Mr Johnson had repeatedly refused to commit to doing so in the Commons, despite Scotland Yard saying it had no problem with it.

A series of high-profile Tory MPs demanded transparency from the Prime Minister, including former chief whip Mark Harper, the chairman of the Commons Defence Committee, Tobias Ellwood, and the chair of the Commons Intelligence and Security Committee, Julian Lewis.

Just hours after Mr Johnson told MPs he could not commit to doing so, Downing Street was forced into a U-turn.

With police now having photos, investigators are sifting through it to work out who they need to question further.

Those individuals will be sent a series of questions by post or email before officers decide whether they should be fined for breaching Covid regulations.

Commander Catherine Roper said in a pooled broadcast interview the fines in question would not be the penalties of thousands of pounds that were faced by some members of the public who organised large gatherings.