‘It took all that time to produce EIGHT pages’: Anger and mockery as long-awaited Sue Gray report on No10 partygate is published (and is just as lacking in detail as many predicted)
Britons today mocked the long-awaited Sue Gray report into Downing Street parties during lockdown for being a ‘whitewash’, with one tweeting: ‘You mean it took Sue Gray all that time just to produce 8 pages of content?’
A limited version of the senior civil servant’s report into the parties held between May 2020 and April 2021 was published today and condemned a ‘serious failure’ to observe the high standards expected of those working at the heart of Government.
Social media users had earlier jokingly predicted that some of the report – which was issued at about 2.20pm today – would say ‘this page is left intentionally blank’. In reality, the second page actually stated: ‘This page intentionally blank’.
Others used the ‘I dunno, I think that’s a bit dodgy mate’ Inbetweeners meme when summarising the report as a ‘TLDR’ version – meaning ‘too long; didn’t read’.
Addressing angry MPs in the House of Commons today, Mr Johnson told MPs he will overhaul the operation in Downing Street and the Cabinet Office to address the concerns raised in the report, adding: ‘I get it and I will fix it.’
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford was ordered to leave the Commons for failing to withdraw claims that the Prime Minister had misled the House.
Ms Gray has been working on the report since December 17 last year, meaning it has taken more than six weeks to be published.
The Cabinet Office said that Ms Gray had provided an ‘update’ on her investigation to the Prime Minister, suggesting it was not the full report she was preparing before the Metropolitan Police intervened. Scotland Yard last week asked Ms Gray to make only ‘minimal reference’ to gatherings being investigated by its officers.
Downing Street has so far refused to commit to publishing a fuller version of Ms Gray’s findings once the police investigation has concluded.
The version of Ms Gray’s report published online said ‘it seems there was too little thought given to what was happening across the country in considering the appropriateness of some of these gatherings, the risks they presented to public health and how they might appear to the public’.
The Downing Street garden was used for gatherings ‘without clear authorisation or oversight’ in a way that was ‘not appropriate’. The report reveals 12 events are being investigated by the police, including a gathering in the Downing Street flat and an event to mark Boris Johnson’s birthday in June 2020.
Here are some of the best memes posted following its publication this afternoon:
Earlier, Britons raised concerns over a ‘whitewash’ today after Sue Gray finally handed Boris Johnson a version of her inquiry into allegations of lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street
. People took to social media to share joke images surrounding the news such as a ’50 Shades of Sue Gray’ spoof, and a Hermes ‘sorry we missed you’ delivery note.
Others posted pictures of a completely-redacted piece of paper and the popular Titanic ‘it’s been 84 years’ meme in a gag about how long the report has taken.
And here are some of the memes posted before the report was revealed:
