London, May 29: The Downing Street officials had allegedly attempted to dilute Sue Gray’s report on the Partygate scandal by demanding anonymising staff who violated Covid-19 rules.
The Sunday Times reported that the partial drafts of the findings were allegedly circulated in the No 10 the day before the final final report was to be submitted.
A Whitehall source said, “On Tuesday night, one last attempt was made to persuade her [Gray] to omit names from the report, but she made it plain to them the only way that was going to happen was if they issued her with an instruction.”
The UK newspaper further claimed that certain details of an ?Abba party? in the prime minister’s flat in November 2020 were changed at the behest of No 10, including reference to the music that was being played and when it started and finished, was allegedly tweaked by Steve Barclay, Johnson’s chief of staff.
However, the Cabinet Office rejected claims that the report was edited due to pressure or that any events were not investigated because of requests made by senior figures, The Guardian reported.
On Wednesday, PM Boris Johnson said that attending leaving events and thank departing staff was “one of the essential duties of leadership” and “it was appropriate to recognise and to thank them for the work that they had done.”
He also issued an apology to MPs for the culture that developed in Downing Street during the pandemic, saying he took ?full responsibility”, The Guardian reported.
(UNI)
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