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Starmer slams ‘spectacle of PM under police investigation’ as Sue Gray report awaited – as it happened

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‘For God’s sake, resign!’: pressure mounts on Johnson at PMQs – video

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Afternoon summary

  • The Commons has adjourned for the day, meaning that making a statement to MPs tonight on the Sue Gray report into the partygate scandal is no longer an option for Boris Johnson. Johnson had at one point been expected to publish the report, and take questions on it from MPs, today. But No 10 has not given any more detailed guidance on when it will be published, and there has even been speculation about it being delayed until next week. We are pausing the blog tonight, but if anything changes in the next few hours, we’ll revive the blog immediately.

That’s all from me for today. But if there are any important developments in the Waiting for Sue Gray saga later tonight, a colleague will reactivate the blog.

ITV’s Anushka Asthana has been tweeting on the Boris Johnson fightback operation.

A bit more on the now super-organised efforts to try to shore up support for Boris Johnson on backbenches - the WhatsApp group is called “Support Group” - has 98 members- who are invited to 3 meetings every day… two in person, one virtual. 30/40 tend to turn up. 1/

— Anushka Asthana (@AnushkaAsthana) January 26, 2022

PM has been meeting something like 15 MPs a day. Their message to him? According to one source- the overwhelming message is - “we need you to be more Conservative”. So what does that mean in policy terms? 2/

— Anushka Asthana (@AnushkaAsthana) January 26, 2022

Massive push from MPs (and as we know Daily Mail) to reverse NI increase and sources say PM taken by it. Other policy I’ve heard has been raised is corporation tax rising from 2023. Then there is covid- wonder if some raised vaccine mandate 3/

— Anushka Asthana (@AnushkaAsthana) January 26, 2022

Plus - especially from a lot of new 2019-ers- small boats coming into Dover, levelling up and local issues. Also sounds like a lot have raised reform of no10 4/

— Anushka Asthana (@AnushkaAsthana) January 26, 2022

The SNP wants Boris Johnson to come to the Commons to explain why he said he was not involved in the decision to allow animals to be rescued as part of the British Kabul evacuation when emails published today say the opposite. In a statement Alyn Smyth, the SNP’s foreign affairs spokesman at Westminster, said:

Boris Johnson is stumbling from one scandal to the next – how many revelations can we have that contradict the prime minister’s stated position before we discount every word he says?

The leaked redacted excerpts from these emails seem to give the lie to Mr Johnson’s denial of any personal intervention in getting cats and dogs in Afghanistan to safety before people. If true, this raises serious questions for the UK government.

The reality is that the UK government’s exit was dominated by chaos and incompetence. There were countless cases of people in Afghanistan - including those who helped UK armed forces and those at real risk of Taliban reprisals - being left behind. The prime minister stated explicitly at the time that the UK was prioritising the evacuation of people, but this now seems deeply questionable.

The prime minister cannot dodge this latest scandal and he must come before parliament to address his conduct urgently.

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Commons adjourns, ending chance of PM making statement to MPs on Sue Gray's report tonight

The debate in the Commons is now over, and the house has adjourned.

That means there is no chance of Boris Johnson making a statement to MPs tonight on the Sue Gray report.

We have still not heard what the plans are for publishing the report, but No 10 has always said it wants its publication to be followed by a Commons statement from Johnson soon afterwards.

From the BBC’s Peter Saull

It doesn’t look like there’ll be a statement in the Commons on Sue Gray today.. ministers getting in their cars and leaving Parliament, including Michael Gove, Nadhim Zahawi, Nadine Dorries.

— Peter Saull (@petesaull) January 26, 2022

In the Commons the adjournment debate, the final piece of business before the adjournment, has just started.

In response to a point of order, Rosie Winterton, the deputy Speaker, told MPs that the Speaker’s office has not yet had a request from the government to schedule a statement on the Sue Gray report later today.

She said that if such request came in before the end of the adjournment debate, the sitting could be suspended and a statement could be scheduled for later tonight. But if the house adjourns first, that won’t be an option, she said.

Adjournment debates normally last just half an hour. Sky’s Jon Craig says a minister told him not to expect the Gray report tonight.

With adjournment debate about to start, senior Cabinet minister tells me: “I think you can safely have an early night tonight.” Some backbenchers now predicting no PM statement on Gray report until Monday.

— Jon Craig (@joncraig) January 26, 2022
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Jessica Elgot
Jessica Elgot

A senior former Whitehall official said legal complications with the publication of Sue Gray’s report were likely to be guided by police advice and the possibility of prejudicing any future criminal trial.

But, given the Met police are understood to have broadly agreed to have the report published, the risk of any offences proceeding to criminal trial are low – the offences carry fixed penalty notices.

The other risk government lawyers will be considering is the risk of defamation of those named in the report – if they contest its findings or believe that things have been published that are known to be untrue.

Again, it is unlikely to be a great risk, especially as there may be an argument the report has qualified privilege.

The main argument against publishing all the evidence Gray has collated is a fairness point: junior officials who carried the cake into the cabinet room would face disproportionate harm if they were named.

Instead, the official said, Gray’s report was unlikely to contain any photos or lurid WhatsApp, but to take a broader view of the facts of the different events and the culture that developed in Downing Street under senior leadership, including the prime minister.

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My colleague Aubrey Allegretti says time is running out for a statement in the Commons on the Gray report today.

Time left for the PM to make a statement in the Commons today if Gray report lands is shrinking - Tory whips warn “business is moving quicker than expected”.

— Aubrey Allegretti (@breeallegretti) January 26, 2022

The FT’s Robert Shrimsley says it would suit No 10 for the report to come out this evening.

If I were devising a press strategy for a really nasty report I'd put it out around 7/8pm after the early evening news and when it is tight for papers to do much more than a quick splash.
You've still got the web but its still getting late. Then at about 9am (1/2)

— robert shrimsley (@robertshrimsley) January 26, 2022

From ITV’s Anushka Asthana

New: Hearing the prime minister is telling MPs (who say they are getting more time with the PM than they ever imagined) that this is a media / Labour witch-hunt, that he’s been through worse before and that he’s bounced back before and will do so again.

— Anushka Asthana (@AnushkaAsthana) January 26, 2022

In the Commons the Labour MP Chris Bryant and the Lib Dem MP Layla Moran both raised the discrepancy between what Boris Johnson said in the past about his involvement in the decision to allow animals to be evacuated from Kabul with support from the MoD, and the revelation today that he was involved. (See 1.47pm and 2.17pm.) Bryant said:

The prime minister said on August 26 that he had no influence on that particular case and nor would that be right. On December 7 he was asked ‘Did you intervene to get Pen Farthing’s animals out?’ He said: ‘No, that is complete nonsense.’ And a Downing Street spokesperson said: ‘Neither the prime minister nor Mrs Johnson were involved.’

Yet today the foreign affairs committee has been able to publish a letter from Lord Goldsmith’s office which says the ‘prime minister has just authorised their staff and animals to be evacuated’. How can I get to the bottom of who is telling the truth?

And Moran asked what could be done to ensure these “discrepancies” were “clarified”.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker, said that if ministers made incorrect statements to MPs, they should correct the record as soon as possible. He also said he expected that to happen in this case, and he urged Bryant and Moran to pursue the matter further.

Chris Bryant. Photograph: House of Commons
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Speaker says he would allow statement from PM later this evening on Gray report if necessary

Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the Commons, told MPs during points of order that he was committed to ensuring that they get time to read the Sue Gray report before Boris Johnson takes questions on it in the chamber.

He was responding to a question from Peter Bone (Con), who wanted an assurance that if the report were released on Thursday, there would be a statement in the Commons on Friday. Hoyle replied:

The prime minister has promised to make a statement. What I would expect is that members will be able to see the report and I would hope time will be given for members to digest that.

Hoyle also said that he would be happy to adjourn the house at some point this afternoon, and schedule a statement in the evening, if necessary. He said:

I’m more than happy to adjourn and leave it until later tonight if it arrives now, to give good time, I’m happy to work with the leader of the house to ensure this house is treated correctly, fairly and in the right manner.

So I reassure him that those conversations between my office and the leader’s office, as well as Downing Street, are taking place to do the right thing by this house.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle. Photograph: Parliament TV/PA
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No 10 backs away from previous claims that Johnson had no involvement in authorising rescue of animals from Kabul

And here is a summary of the main lines from the post-PMQs Downing Street lobby briefing.

  • No 10 said it still had not received Sue Gray’s report. (See 1.25pm.)
  • The prime minister’s spokesman backed away from past claims that Boris Johnson had no involvement in the government’s decision to allow dogs and cats from animal rescue home run by a former British soldier to be evacuated from Kabul last summer. At the the decision provoked outrage because of the implication - denied by the MoD - that this used up resources that could have been used to help humans. Last month Johnson said the claim that he was personally involved was “complete nonsense”.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson denies the allegation that he prioritised the evacuation of Pen Farthing's animals over people during Britain's evacuation from Afghanistan.

Read more here: https://t.co/Kh447OpWqk pic.twitter.com/HLWWrlORN1

— Sky News (@SkyNews) December 7, 2021

But today Johnson’s spokesman said: “It remains the case that the PM didn’t instruct officials to take any particular course of action.”

  • The spokesman said he was not aware of any plans by the Metropolitan police to interview Johnson over parties at No 10.
  • The spokesman said Johnon intended to publish the findings of the Sue Gray report as they were received. He said:

The findings will be made public in line with the terms of reference. It is our intention to publish those findings as received.

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Emails suggest Boris Johnson authorised Afghan animal rescue despite denials

Foreign Office emails appear to contradict Downing Street denials that Boris Johnson did not personally authorise the controversial rescue of cats and dogs from a British animal charity in Afghanistan, my colleague Dan Sabbagh reports. His story is here.

With Johnson already trying to fend off claims that the partygate revelations have highlighted his lack of honesty, this story has landed at a particularly damaging time because it adds to the charge sheet against him.

In December last year Johnson said it was “complete nonsense” to claim he intervened to help the rescue of the animals during the evacuation in Kabul earlier in the summer.

Asked at the post-PMQs lobby briefing about the latest revelations, the prime minister’s spokesman said: “It remains the case that the PM didn’t instruct officials to take any particular course of action.”

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No 10 says it has still not received Sue Gray's report

Downing Street has still not received the Sue Gray report, the PM’s spokesman told journalists at the post-PMQs lobby briefing.

This means that the likelihood of publication being delayed until tomorrow is increasing.

I will post a full summary from the briefing shortly.

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