A senior minister has challenged Sue Gray’s allegations that she was pressured to belittle her report on Westminster lawbreakers, saying he was “absolutely convinced” that the investigation was completely independent.
Brandon Lewis, secretary of Northern Ireland, dismissed speculation that senior figures on Downing Street had demanded details about the so-called “Abba’s party” at Boris Johnson’s apartment during the blockade and the names of staff members.
The allegations were reported in the Sunday Times, which said Gray had been lobbied to change key passages from her report on the eve of its publication by three people: Steve Barkley, the prime minister’s chief of staff, Simon Case, the cabinet’s secretary, and Alex Chisholm. , the Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet.
Earlier this week, the Guardian revealed that Tory MPs feared a “cover-up” of the Aba party, which Gray admitted she had not fully investigated.
Lewis did not explicitly deny that Gray was pressured to change his report because he said he did not participate in the investigation, but said that “anyone who worked at №10” knew that “this thing will not works. “
He told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “I am confident, especially now that number 10 has categorically stated and denied that it happened that Sue Gray was free to write the report that she is comfortable writing and publishing. ”
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Given that the metropolitan police have not issued any notices of fixed penalties for the event, Lewis said this “supported” Denial Street’s denial of history.
Asked how the media and the public can trust №10 after initially denying that Covid’s rules were violated, Lewis said: “It’s a different Downing Street, you have a different team of people, the Chief of Staff is different – your team says who works with the prime minister, who is in charge of these issues.
“Steve Barkley himself is new and he wasn’t there during those initial mistakes.”
Johnson is likely to face additional headaches, given that his former chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, said evidence of “crimes in the apartment where Johnson lived” had been ignored by metropolitan police and the cabinet.
Labor said Johnson had to explain why figures in number 10 “intervened in an investigation he said was independent and relied on Sue Gray.”
Angela Raynor, the party’s deputy leader, said: “It’s time for the public to be told the truth, but this prime minister can no longer be trusted to tell it.
Johnson is facing an investigation that is likely to begin next month on whether he misled parliament, denying for weeks that Covid’s rules have been violated.
Labor leader Anneliese Dodds said conservative MPs were still undecided on whether to try to oust Johnson or leave the Partygate scandal behind.
“We believe that, in the end, politics must be pure, it must be a force for good,” she said. “All politicians must adhere to high standards.
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