Six of the worst bits from Sue Gray’s report

Politics’ longest-running farce is at a close. Sue Gray, that pillar of Whitehall officialdom, has today delivered her report into whether Boris Johnson did indeed break lockdown rules during the pandemic. And while there will no doubt be some relief for those in No. 10 that Gray’s inquiries didn’t investigate any further parties to those previously reported, some of the details contained in her findings do make for excruciating reading. Below are six of the lowlights from the Sue Gray report….

1. The Met torpedoed Gray’s probe

Few institutions emerge well from partygate but the Metropolitan Police probably came out worst. Constantly derided for being too opaque, too slow to act and too selective in its judgement about who got fined, London’s finest arguably saved Boris Johnson by announcing its investigation when they did in January and thus killing off the momentum that was building on the backbenches against him. Now Gray reveals that the Met’s announcement meant she did not fully investigate some of the No 10. gatherings,