Raab backtracks on Partygate hinting the full report may never be published

1 February 2022, 08:25 | Updated: 1 February 2022, 10:27

Raab hints the full partygate report may never be published

The Deputy Prime Minister has defended Boris Johnson's response to the Sue Gray report, but told LBC this morning that he was satisfied the report had been published "in full" at this stage.

Dominic Raab suggested the public may never see the full report, saying “it is not clear to me there is anything more," but went on to concede that anything further passed to Mr Johnson by Sue Gray would be published in due course.

Mr Raab was asked by Nick Ferrari at Breakfast today: “The debate we heard in the house, where does it leave the Prime Minister?”

Mr Raab said: “The Sue Gray report has been published in full. The Prime Minister has expressed his contrition.

Nick interjects: “It’s not in full, a lot of it has been held back, and I understand of the 12 pages, one is the title page, one is blank and three appendices. So there are six pages. Respectfully Deputy Prime Minister, I don’t call that in full. Do you?”

“Yes I do,” Mr Raab said. “It’s the full report that she’s given to him.”

Mr Raab said Sue Gray was unable to include details of certain Partygate allegations passed to police so a truncated version of it was given to the PM yesterday.

“Whatever Sue Gray has given to the Prime Minister, she’s published. If she comes back with anything more, he’ll publish it.

“In relation to the report, he’s published it, but he’s also addressed some of the problems that she’s rightly identified. He’s going to set up an office of the Prime Minister."

Mr Raab also said of the report: "It is not clear to me there is anything more."

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"Anything she gives the Prime Minister, he will publish but ultimately that's a question for Sue Gray.

"It's not clear to me that there's anything more other than any conclusion that she will draw. Anything further that she gives the PM will be published."

Mr Raab eventually went on to say that when a fuller report is passed to the PM at a later date, once the police investigation has concluded, Mr Johnson would publish that fully.

The Prime Minister faced angry backbenchers on Monday as he offered his mea culpa to the Commons after the report was published.

Mr Johnson apologised to MPs after senior official Sue Gray found "failures of leadership and judgment" as gatherings were held while England was under coronavirus restrictions in 2020 and 2021.

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Ms Gray revealed in an "update" that of the 16 alleged gatherings she had deemed necessary to investigate, at least 12 linked to government properties in Downing Street and Whitehall were being investigated by the police.

Criticism came from across the House, including from former prime minister Theresa May who asked whether Mr Johnson either did not "read the rules", understand them, or "didn't think the rules applied to No 10".

But by the time he met with parliamentarians in a rare gathering of the whole party later, a U-turn which promised to publish the eventual report in full and promises to shake up how No 10 and the Cabinet Office are run appeared to have calmed tensions, at least for the time being.

At least four of the parties are directly linked to Mr Johnson, either because he was reported to have attended, or because they are reported to have taken place in his flat.

Three alleged gatherings not previously reported were also included in the report.

But the police investigation had prevented her from delivering any meaningful report as to not impact the inquiry.

Mr Johnson told MPs in the Commons: "Firstly, I want to say sorry - and I'm sorry for the things we simply didn't get right and also sorry for the way this matter has been handled.

"It's no use saying this or that was within the rules and it's no use saying people were working hard. This pandemic was hard for everyone."

He added: "I get it, and I will fix it. I want to say to the people of this country I know what the issue is."

However, he faced a hostile response from some on his own side and the threat of a vote of no confidence has not yet been defeated.

- Former Cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell told Mr Johnson he "no longer enjoys my support".

- Tory MP Angela Richardson announced she had quit as a ministerial aide to Michael Gove, sharing her "deep disappointment" at the handling of the partygate row.

- Aaron Bell, part of the 2019 intake of Red Wall MPs, recalled abiding by coronavirus restrictions for his grandmother's May 2020 funeral before asking: "Does the Prime Minister think I'm a fool?"

In the Lords, ex-Whitehall chief and independent crossbencher Lord Kerslake said: "Even without the detail the general findings are utterly damning. This goes to the heart of government. Can government be trusted to do the right thing and tell the truth? It's hard to think of anything more important than that."

But Leader of the Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg said the "mood was positive" among Conservatives following an evening meeting on the Parliamentary estate.

He added: "So many people voted personally for Boris Johnson rather than voting for political parties.

"Politicians have to accept that our bosses are the British people, and they voted for that, they put him in office."