Sue Gray report must be published immediately and in full, says Sturgeon

There has been no date set for the report on partygate to be released.

Craig Paton
Thursday 27 January 2022 14:25 GMT
The First Minister was speaking ahead of First Minister’s Questions on Thursday (Fraser Bremner/Daily Mail/PA)
The First Minister was speaking ahead of First Minister’s Questions on Thursday (Fraser Bremner/Daily Mail/PA)

A report into parties in and around Downing Street during lockdown must be made public in full as soon as the Prime Minister receives it, Scotland’s First Minister has said.

There has been much speculation over when the report – being compiled by senior civil servant Sue Gray – will be published, when it will be made public and if parts will be removed.

The Prime Minister told reporters on Thursday he would “of course” publish the report in full, but Nicola Sturgeon said the longer it took for the investigation to be made public, the more suspicions would swirl about potential changes being made by Downing Street.

The longer he was to sit on it, the more suspicion people would have about what he might be doing to it

Nicola Sturgeon

Speaking to ITV Border on Thursday, she said: “The report should be published immediately after Boris Johnson receives it and published in full.

“The longer he was to sit on it, the more suspicion people would have about what he might be doing to it.”

But the First Minister said the report will not change the fact Mr Johnson “misled parliament”.

“Everybody is really keen to see what Sue Gray concludes, obviously,” she said as she entered the Holyrood chamber ahead of First Minister’s Questions.

“I think it’s really hard to imagine anything she could say that would change what we already know from what’s on the record, and that’s that Boris Johnson misled parliament, and I think that’s the severity of the position he’s in.”

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