Gray report will be published in full after police inquiry over, No 10 promises

U-turn just an hour after the PM refused to stand by his commitment to publish in parliament

Downing Street has announced that Sue Gray’s full report on lockdown-busting events at No 10 will be published following the completion of the police inquiry, in a swift U-turn after Boris Johnson suggested it might never be released.

The promise came after Boris Johnson came under fire for refusing to confirm that he would stick by his commitment to make the Whitehall mandarin’s findings public.

The prime minister initially told MPs he would “take a decision” on publication after the Metropolitan Police conclude their separate probe into the allegations of parties.

And his official spokesperson told reporters that the PM may not even ask Ms Gray to provide him with a further update, following her presentation of a heavily-abridged 12-page report today. The spokesperson said that it was impossible at this point to judge whether the “interplay” between the two investigations would allow for the document’s eventual publication in full.

The decision raised the prospect that no full report on the parties would ever be published, as there is no suggestion that the police are likely to do so.

However, within less than an hour of the PM’s appearance before the Commons, a No 10 spokesperson announced the U-turn.

“Given the police have said they are investigating a number of events, it would not be appropriate to comment further while the Met’s investigation is ongoing,” said the spokesperson.

“But, at the end of the process, the prime minister will ask Sue Gray to update her work in light of what is found. He will publish that update.

“However the prime minister is clear we must not judge an ongoing investigation and his focus now is on addressing the general findings.”

On Monday, Ms Gray published an “update” of her long-awaited report after being told to make “minimal” reference to key allegations relating to gatherings under investigation by the Met.

She added that in the meantime it was not possible to present a “meaningful report” and was “extremely limited” over the information she could reveal.

Conservative former chief whip Mark Harper urged the PM in the House of Commons to commit to publishing Ms Gray’s report “immediately and in full”, while the chair of parliament’s intelligence and security committee Julian Lewis said the prime minister should “publish the uncensored version with any further delay”.

Mr Johnson, however, said: “What we’ve got to do is wait for the police to conclude their inquiries, that is the proper thing to do.

‘”People have given all sorts of evidence in the expectation that it would not necessarily be published, at that stage I will take a decision about what to publish.”