The Washington Post - USA (2022-05-26)

THURSDAY, MAY 26 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE A

BY KARLA ADAM

AND WILLIAM BOOTH

london — A long-awaited inter-
nal investigation squarely
blamed the top leadership in
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s
government for lockdown-break-
ing parties in and around Down-
ing Street, including a string of
bashes with “excessive alcohol
consumption” and one that
prompted an official to boast, in a
text, about living beyond pan-
demic rules.
Senior civil servant Sue Gray’s
report, released Wednesday, of-
fered striking details of the cul-
ture of work and play within
Johnson’s government in periods
when covid restrictions limited
mixing between households and
kept people from visiting nursing
homes or attending funerals.
While pubs across Britain
were closed for business, the
report suggests Downing Street
served as a kind of after-hours
joint for staffers, with some par-
ties going until nearly dawn.
There was loud music, danc-
ing, quiz games. And booze. Of-
ten lots of it.
At a gathering on June 18,
2020, one person “was sick,”
vomiting from so much drinking,
and two others engaged in a
“minor altercation,” a fight.
Downing Street staffers were
accused of mocking security staff
who told them to quiet down —
even as they left rubbish bins
overflowing with trash for custo-
dians to deal with. After one
party, cleaners had to scrub red
wine stains from a wall.
The 59-page report covered 16
gatherings — held between May
15, 2020, and April 16, 2021 — at
the prime minister’s Downing
Street office, his official resi-
dence upstairs or the nearby
cabinet office.
“Many of these events should
not have been allowed to hap-
pen,” the report concluded.
Gray wrote: “The senior lead-
ership at the center, both politi-
cal and official, must bear re-
sponsibility for this culture.” She
added that some of the more
junior civil servants “believed
that their involvement in some of
these events was permitted given
the attendance of senior leaders.”
The report included nine pho-

tos of Johnson, including a series

of him raising a glass in a toast on

Nov. 13, 2020. Beside him, the

table is littered with empty and

half-empty bottles of wine and

gin.

Although Johnson is expected

to keep his job, for now, the

report has fueled renewed anger

about elites who consider them-

selves above the rules.

Speaking in the House of Com-

mons hours after the report was

published on Wednesday, John-

son said he was “humbled” by the

revelations and has “learned a

lesson.” He said he took “full

responsibility for everything that

took place,” but it was time to

“move on and focus on the priori-

ties of the British people.”

He added that he was “ap-

palled” by some of the report’s

details. He said his attendance at

some staff farewell parties was

brief, and that he was “surprised

and disappointed” to learn that

drinking continued into the

night.

At a gathering on the eve of

Prince Philip’s funeral, some par-

tied past 4 a.m., and staffers

broke a toy swing that belonged

to Johnson’s toddler son, the

report noted.

When news of the parties came

to light, Johnson repeatedly told

Parliament that he believed no

parties had taken place and that

no rules were broken. He still

faces a parliamentary investiga-

tion into whether he misled law-

makers with those statements.

At a Wednesday afternoon

news conference from Downing

Street, the British leader was

asked directly by a reporter, “Are

you a liar?'

The prime minister insisted

that he truly believed no rules

were breached when he made

that assertion to Parliament.

He defended himself by saying

that staffers were “working very

hard, very long hours” and that

he believed “these were work

events. They were part of my job.”

The lockdown restrictions al-

lowed for exceptions for gather-

ings that were essential for work

purposes. Johnson called step-

ping into the parties to bid fare-

well to departing staffers “one of

the essential duties of leader-

ship.”

But at least some of the attend-

ees seem to have realized they

were breaking their own rules. In

a WhatsApp exchange, a top civil

servant wrote that “we seem to

have got away with” a party on

May 20, 2020.

The highly anticipated report

— British journalists were calling

Wednesday “Sue Gray Day” —

followed a separate police inves-

tigation into a dozen of the

gatherings. The police deter-

mined that 83 people violated

lockdown rules, including the

prime minister, his wife, Carrie,

and Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

Johnson is the first British

prime minister to be found to

have broken the law while in

office. Even still, some critics

suggested the police let him off

too lightly.

Opposition leader Keir Starm-

er said Wednesday that the Gray

report was a testament to the

“hubris and the arrogance of a

government that believed it was

one rule for them and another

rule for everyone else.” He drew a

contrast between himself and

Johnson by reiterating a pledge

to step down if police find he

broke lockdown rules in a sepa-

rate scandal dubbed “beergate.”

The prime minister has made

clear that he has no intention of

resigning. And members of his

Conservative Party are not ma-

neuvering in any great numbers

to oust him as leader. Analysts

say this is in part because there’s

no obvious successor within the

party.

Johnson’s allies have defended

his resolve, citing among the

reasons Russia’s war in Ukraine,

where the U.K. has played an

outsize role in military support.

But the Partygate scandal has

dented support for the Conserva-

tives, who suffered losses in local

elections this month.

Polls show that the majority of

Brits say Johnson should step

down, and his popularity rating

has tumbled since the lockdown

breaches were revealed.

“When you look at his approv-

al ratings now, they are not the

kind of approval ratings that a

prime minister normally comes

back from,” said Chris Curtis,

head of political polling at Opini-

um Research.

Curtis said the Conservative

Party had lost its reputation for

economic competence, with fuel

and food prices surging. Inflation

is now at 9 percent, a 40-year

high.

“But the biggest thing that has

ruined Boris Johnson’s reputa-

tion is undoubtedly Partygate,”

Curtis said. He said that if there

were an election now, polls sug-

gest that Johnson and the Con-

servative Party would be out of

government.

The fact that the opposition

Labour Party can see a route to

power is a remarkable change of

events from the 2019 election,

when Johnson helped Conserva-

tives win an 80-seat majority.

Johnson, though, has also

shown he can ride out contro-

versies that would topple most

politicians.

U.K. report blames Johnson, staff for lockdown parties

LEON NEAL/GETTY IMAGES

The report covered 16 gatherings in 2020 and 2021 at British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Downing Street office, his official residence

upstairs or the nearby cabinet office. Johnson. who said he was “humbled” by the report’s revelations, is expected to keep his job.

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