The British Secretary of State wants to lay out the facts about the lockdown parties in Downing Street.
(Photo: AP)
London The woman who holds the fate of Boris Johnson in her hands has achieved some notoriety in the UK. “We’re waiting for Sue Gray” has almost become a dictum, so often has the government put off questioning journalists with this sentence.
The civil servant is investigating around a dozen government parties that took place during the corona lockdowns in May and winter 2020 and April 2021.
She is presenting her report this week. Depending on how critical he is, he could herald the end of Premier Johnson.
Gray spoke to party attendees and evaluated emails and WhatsApp messages. It’s about what happened – and whether corona rules and the ministerial code were violated.
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While the Brits were only allowed to meet outdoors in pairs, there were apparently regular mass events with alcohol and music in Downing Street.
Johnson is also said to have received guests at home
Gray’s key witness is Dominic Cummings. Johnson’s former chief adviser left the government in a dispute at the end of 2020 and has been campaigning for revenge against the prime minister ever since. In the past few weeks, he has kept the Partygate scandal going with more and more revelations. The latest allegation came on Sunday in the “Sunday Times”: Johnson and his wife Carrie are said to have received friends in their official apartment.
It could be tight this time for the scandal-tested Johnson. He is not only accused of having been there at the party himself. He is said to have later lied and misled Parliament. Conservative MPs want to decide whether to try a vote of no confidence in Johnson after the Gray report is published.
Read more about Boris Johnson and Britain’s corona policy
Gray can really only lose. If the report is not critical enough, the accusation that she wants to whitewash her boss Johnson threatens. On the other hand, if she judges him so harshly that he falls over it, she should probably hear that she has exceeded her authority.
“She should be very aware that she has the reputations and careers of high officials and possibly the Prime Minister in her hands,” former Secretary of State David Normington told the BBC. “It’s a very difficult position, no matter how fair and fearless and strict someone is.”
Gray has a reputation for being confident and incorruptible. She has been back in the Cabinet Office since last year after having been in Belfast for a couple of years. There she had managed the civil service in the Treasury Department of the Northern Ireland regional government.
She earned her reputation as a longtime ethics officer under Prime Ministers David Cameron and Theresa May. In this role, she was considered the most powerful woman behind the scenes. She was the final authority when it came to interpreting the rules for ministers and punishing breaches of the rules. Among other things, she investigated the allegations against then Deputy Prime Minister Damian Green in 2017. He had lied about porn on his duty computer and had to resign.
Loyal official with a lot of insider knowledge
Prior to cabinet reshuffles, Gray’s job was to examine the past of every new minister and secretary of state. This inside knowledge gives her a lot of power. “If one public servant wrote her memoirs, Sue Gray’s would be the most valuable and sensational,” her former boss Gus O’Donnell once told the BBC. “I am very certain that this memoir will never be written. She takes her secrets with her to her grave.”
Johnson should hope for this loyalty to the state. Gray had entered public service straight out of school in the 1970s. In the 1980s, she took a break from civil service and ran a pub in Newry, Northern Ireland, with her husband, Irish country singer Bill Conlon. She then worked her way up in various ministries until she ended up in the Cabinet Office, the heart of government, in the late 1990s.
According to British media, Gray will state only the facts and refrain from assigning personal blame. But even if the report were to exonerate Johnson, the scandal would probably not be over for him. Because the public has already passed their verdict, many Britons are angry about their prime minister’s double standards. A majority calls for his resignation.
In addition, there are now serious allegations in dealing with MPs. Johnson’s faction leaders are accused of extortion and discrimination. Several MPs claim they have been threatened with having their constituency funds withdrawn if they do not vote for the government. Former Secretary of State Nusrat Ghani claims she was sacked because she is Muslim. This fuels resentment in the group and makes a vote of no confidence in Johnson more likely. “Right now it looks like checkmate,” MP Steve Baker said. “We’ll see if he can save himself.”
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