What time is Boris Johnson’s announcement today? When to expect PM’s update after Sue Gray report is published
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The full Sue Gray report into lockdown-breaking parties at No 10 is set to be published today.
The senior civil servant’s report is not expected to pull any punches and will likely be highly critical of the culture within Downing Street.
Her full version has been delayed months due to a Metropolitan Police investigation which ended with more than 120 fines being handed out, including one to Boris Johnson.
The redacted version, published in January, described the parties as a “failure of leadership and judgement” by No 10 and the Cabinet Office.
When will Boris Johnson make an announcement on the Sue Gray report?
Reports indicate that No 10 is either receiving a hard copy of the report imminently, or has done already.
After this, the next step is for it to be published on the Cabinet Office website, which should happen later this morning.
The Prime Minister will face Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs at noon – a session which lasts around half an hour – and is then expected to make a statement on the Sue Gray report.
He is likely to issue another apology, as he did after the redacted report was published in January. There will be a live stream of his announcement right here on this page.
Mr Johnson has a meeting with the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers scheduled for 5pm, at which he will attempt to calm any sense of rebellion.
He is also expected to address the nation in a televised press conference. The timing for this is yet to be confirmed, but you will again be able to watch it live right here.
The Prime Minister will likely keep the press conference brief and aim to move the conversation forward to the Government’s response to the cost of living crisis, with Chancellor Rishi Sunak set to unveil a number of new measures to help struggling households tomorrow.
This press conference will also be broadcast live on BBC News and Sky News.
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What will the report mean for Boris Johnson?
A lot of the heat has been taken out of the backbench Tory rebellion, due to the long wait for the Sue Gray report to be published.
It is likely that damning evidence would be required for a significant number of Conservative MPs to push for the Prime Minister’s resignation or removal.
However, photographs that emerged this week of the Prime Minister appearing to toast a group of people next to a table stocked with bottles of alcohol have stoked more anger.
The photographs, obtained by ITV News, are reported to be from a leaving party for the Prime Minister’s former direction of communications, Lee Cain, on 13 November 2020 – eight days after the country entered the second Covid-19 lockdown.
Mr Johnson had previously denied there was a party at Downing Street on this date.
The Prime Minister faces a probe by the Commons Privileges Committee over whether he misled Parliament about parties in Downing Street during lockdown.
Ministers who deliberately mislead Parliament would normally be expected to resign.
Former Head of the Civil Service, Lord Kerslake, told BBC’s Newsnight: “If it [Parliament] was intentionally misled that is a serious, serious issue that has nothing to do with casual parties.”
Several Tory MPs are already calling for Mr Johnson to resign, including veteran Conversative MP Roger Gale, who called the new photos “damning”.
“We now are in a position where we face a cost of living crisis and an ongoing war. We need to have the right leader to take us through all of that,” he said.
