British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is bracing for trouble as a report into his lockdown-breaching parties may soon spell major political trouble for him. Addition of police investigation into the entire issue has upped the stakes
The report from an investigation by senior civil servant Sue Gray is complete, but has not yet been submitted to Downing Street, the government said.
Gray, described as an iron-willed enforcer of probity in government, has been investigating revelations that Downing Street staff held frequent parties over the past two years while the rest of the country was in lockdown.
Opposition parties are insisting full publication of the report. Jhonson has been on the backfoot in British parliament for last many days.
The explosive confirmation that London’s Metropolitan Police force has now started its own investigation could complicate the release of Gray’s report.
Otherwise, according to senior Labour MP Chris Bryant on BBC radio, the public will “simply say this is a cover up”.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss affirmed her “100 percent” backing for Johnson despite the likelihood that he will become only the second prime minister, after Tony Blair, to face police questioning in office.
Truss, speaking to BBC television, said all sides should be more focused on issues such as Russia’s threats to invade Ukraine.
But she acknowledged: “There clearly has to be a change of culture. The prime minister has said that mistakes were made, he’s apologised for what has happened.”
“I suspect we won’t have much longer to wait for the Sue Gray report, where we can have a fuller view of exactly what happened,” she added on BBC radio.
It was unclear whether Downing Street would release the report on Wednesday or later, with Johnson facing another grilling in parliament at the weekly joust of Prime Minister’s Questions from noon (1200 GMT).
(With inputs from agencies)
