‘Is this wise?’: Emails ‘show officials planning events at Downing Street’ during lockdown

Sue Gray report delayed until after Metropolitan Police inquiries complete

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Whitehall mandarin Sue Gray’s report into lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street will include details from emails suggesting “premeditation” among officials planning events, it was claimed today.

One unnamed source told the Sunday Times that the report will show that rules were “wilfully broken”, with one official breaking into discussion on the venue for a planned event to ask: “Is this wise?”

Ms Gray’s full report into Partygate is to be published after the completion of Metropolitan Police inquiries into 12 events in No 10 and Whitehall alleged to have broken Covid-19 restrictions in 2020 and 2021.

Police have already handed out fines – including a £50 penalty which made Boris Johnson the first sitting PM to be punished for breaking the law – but more are expected to come as they work through questionnaires filled in by more than 100 politicians and officials.

Fresh questionnaires are understood to have been sent out in the last few days relating to the leaving party of former Downing Street director of communications Lee Cain in November 2020.

An email exchange relating to leaving drinks for No 10 staffer Hannah Young in June 2020, obtained by the Sunday Times and believed to have been submitted to Ms Gray’s inquiry, has raised new concerns over the level of planning which went into the events.

Planning is a key factor in assessing the seriousness of any breaches, with Mr Johnson insisting that the birthday party for which he was fined was sprung on him unannounced, while he spent 25 minutes at a “bring your own booze” event for 50 staff in the No 10 garden under the impression it was a “work event”.

One source told the Sunday Times: "The most shocking thing Sue’s report has uncovered is a series of emails which expose the extent to which the parties were premeditated and the rules were being willfully broken. She is also concerned by the lack of contrition shown by those who have been found to have broken the rules."

The email trail features a debate on whether rooms in No 10 were big enough to host Ms Young’s event at a time when coronavirus restrictions were in place, or whether a larger space should be found in the Cabinet Office.

At one point, one of those involved is said to have questioned whether the event was a good idea, asking: "Is this wise?"

It was at this point that MacNamara is said to have stepped in and assured others on the email chain that she had resolved the issue. According to insiders, she gave approval for a room to be used in the Cabinet Office.

In the end, the event is believed to have begun in a communal area on the ground floor of the Cabinet Office, before "migrating" to a room close to the cabinet secretary’s office.

Cabinet Office ethics chief Helen MacNamara – who was eventually fined £50 for attending the event – is said to have stepped in with the offer of a room, where the “raucous” event, involving a karaoke machine, was reported to have ended in a brawl between two staffers.

Gray is also understood to have copies of another email in which a very senior official reportedly warned the PM’s then principal private secretary Martin Reynolds against the party for staff in the Downing Street garden in May 2020.