For weeks, the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson managed not to admit that he attended parties that broke the law during the lockdown by asking people to wait for an internal report to be released. Now, the police have effectively instructed the author of that report to remove anything that might incriminate the prime minister.
As more and more evidence of lockdown parties surfaced in the British press over the past few weeks, Johnson has embraced the silly stance that he cannot say whether he attends the gatherings. until a civil service investigation tells him whether. or not he was there.
The report will be released this week until statement of the Metropolitan Police of London on Friday morning confirmed that they had asked the author, senior civil servant Sue Grey, to provide “minimum reference” in her report about events that could “prejudice” the life the force’s own investigation into government lockout violations.
That means Gray’s report, if released, would remove all of the most damaging charges against the prime minister. The Met investigation can drag on for months, and if it is found that Johnson has not broken the law, the force will not be obligated to explain its activities. The story that at one point looked like it could lead to the prime minister being forced out of his job may simply be about solving the problem.
Johnson’s enemies, of course, smelled of a rat. The Met suspended its investigation of the damn reports until earlier this week, when Gray’s report was due to be released. The police investigation now appears to have smeared the report as if it could threaten Johnson’s future.
Days before the Met announced its investigation, Daily telegram leakage obtained that would terrify Johnson. It is claimed that the police officers tasked with guarding Downing Street delivered “extremely damaging” evidence about the parties to Gray. A source said: “If Boris Johnson remains Prime Minister by the end of the week, I would be very surprised.”
That proof may now never see the light of day.
An unnamed government figure told Sun that Met Commissioner Cressida Dick had effectively sabotaged work that could have exposed the Prime Minister, remarking: “Cressida has completely screwed it all up.” Another unnamed government source told the newspaper: “Anything worth reading now will have to be kept… So it needs to be decided if it’s worth publishing until it’s available.” can be fully run.”
COVID-19 advocacy group Bereaved Family for Justice wrote in an angry statement: “Tragically, it seems here that the Metropolitan Police broke public trust by refusing to investigate blatant violations of the law, and now require any further investigation to be covered. hide the most serious offences that are happening in Downing Street.”
The pro-independent Scottish SNP, the third largest group in the British parliament, said in a statement: “This farce of the British government has been going on long enough. People can understand that this is more and more like a cover-up.”
To date, there have been 17 reports of gatherings being held in government buildings while government COVID restrictions were in effect.
