Senior civil servant Sue Gray's long-awaited report into the 'Partygate' affair has found "failures of leadership and judgement" at the seat of government.
The full 60-page report, delayed until the conclusion of a Metropolitan Police investigation that resulted in 83 small Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) fines being issued, was published late on Wednesday morning — less than an hour before Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced his weekly questions from MPs in the House of Commons.
Gray's investigation focused on 16 occasions when government staff allegedly socialised with food and drink at 10 Downing Street in breach of COVID-19 lockdown rules in 2020 and 2021. They include leaving parties for three members of staff.
And it includes photos of the now-famous June 2020 'Cakegate' incident when Johnson's wife Carrie threw a surprise birthday party for him in the Cabinet Room — with the faces of most attendees blurred out.
They show Johnson holding a small polystyrene tray of food and raising a can of beer in a toast with around ten other people present.
The PM and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak were each retrospectively fined £50 by the police for attending the gathering just before a cabinet meeting.
"There were failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No 10 and the Cabinet Office at different times," Gray wrote. "Some of the events should not have been allowed to take place. Other events should not have been allowed to develop as they did."
Gray made similar criticisms in her interim report months earlier.
She also criticised the culture of workplace drinking that Johnson allowed at Downing Street during the lockdown, described by anonymous whistle-blowers as "wine-time Fridays" from 4pm at the end of the week.
“The excessive consumption of alcohol is not appropriate in a professional workplace at any time," Gray wrote. "Steps must be taken to ensure that every Government Department has a clear and robust policy in place covering the consumption of alcohol in the workplace."
And she said the "use of the garden at No 10 Downing Street should be primarily for the Prime Minister and the private residents of No 10 and No 11 Downing Street," addressing another infamous pic of staff chatting with wine glasses in hand on the Georgian townhouses' large lawn.
One of the most publicised incidents was the leaving party for Downing Street director of communications James Slack on April 16 2021, the eve of Prince Phillip's funeral where Queen Elizabeth II was forced to sit alone due to social distancing rules.
"There were leaving speeches and a presentation," the report documents. "Wine was available and music was played from a laptop on top of a printer. A number of those present drank excessively."
Confirming media reports, it said: "A number of individuals gathered near a child’s swing/slide in the garden, damaging it by leaning on and playing with it. This was noticed the next morning and reported to No 10 staff."
The party continued until the small hours, with exit logs indicating that "some left after midnight and others between 01.45-02.45. Two members of staff stayed later still, with one leaving at 03.11 and the last leaving at 04:20."
Johnson was due to make a statement on the report to Parliament later on Wednesday afternoon. Opposition Labour Party leader avoided the issue at PM's Questions at noon, preferring to re-run last week's exchange on the cost of living crisis.
Starmer is also under police investigation over a beer and curry night with his deputy Angela Rayner and up to 20 local activists in Durham in April 2021
Cabinet Secretary Simon Case was initially appointed to lead the probe last December, but was forced to step down just over a week later after it emerged he himself was implicated.
Gray took over leading the inquiry, but faced criticism from opposition parties after she delayed the report's release to allow the police to finish their investigation.