Summary

  • Boris Johnson receives heavy criticism from MPs in the Commons in the wake of Sue Gray's report into lockdown parties

  • Labour leader Keir Starmer says he is taking the public for fools and "hiding behind" a police investigation

  • Former Tory PM Theresa May questions if the PM felt Covid rules didn't apply to him

  • Johnson says he is sorry, that he accepts the report and that he will make changes to No 10

  • Sue Gray's report identifies "failures of leadership and judgment" in Downing Street

  • She looked at 16 events in total but the Met Police are investigating 12 of them so she had to leave details out

  • The police say they have been handed more than 300 photos and will start contacting individuals soon

  • Gray's findings come as some Tory MPs are still weighing up if they want Johnson to continue as PM

  1. Thanks for following our coveragepublished at 21:02 Greenwich Mean Time 31 January 2022

    We're bringing our coverage to a close now on what's been a very busy day in Westminster.

    But of course you'll be able to follow any further developments this evening on our website or app - or on the BBC News Channel.

    Today's updates have been written by Becky Morton, Francesca Gillett, George Wright, Jennifer Scott, Jeremy Gahagan and Joshua Nevett. And the page has been edited by Jasmine Taylor-Coleman, Kevin Ponniah and James Clarke.

  2. Round-up of the daypublished at 20:57 Greenwich Mean Time 31 January 2022

    May and JohnsonImage source, Reuters

    It’s been quite a day in Westminster. Let’s reflect on some of the key moments as we draw our live coverage to a close.

    Gray day: After weeks of anticipation and waiting, Sue Gray handed over her initial findings on lockdown parties in No 10 and government to the prime minister, who published them and then made a statement to MPs.

    Gray said what she could publish was limited because the Met Police is also investigating but in a damning passage she blamed "failures of leadership and judgment" at No 10 and in the Cabinet Office.

    You can read our summary of the key findings here.

    Met matters: Gray’s update revealed the Met Police is investigating 12 parties in Downing Street and other government buildings. In a statement, the force said it will review “more than 300 images and over 500 pages of information”.

    MPs react: An ill-tempered session of questions followed the PM’s statement. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the British people believed Johnson should "do the decent thing and resign", while the SNP's Ian Blackford was told to leave the chamber after saying Boris Johnson had lied.

    Full disclosure: MPs from across the House called for Gray’s report to be published in full when the police investigation concludes. Johnson didn't commit to this but No 10 now says Gray will update her report and it will be published.

    Tories meet: The prime minister then addressed the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs. Johnson reportedly gave an impassioned speech referencing how he almost died from Covid, and promised much closer relations between No 10 and the parliamentary Conservative party.

  3. PM must face same standards as public, says ex-justice secretarypublished at 20:55 Greenwich Mean Time 31 January 2022

    Sir Robert Buckland
    Image caption,

    Sir Robert Buckland was a member of government during the pandemic, but now sits on the backbenches

    Sir Robert Buckland, who was in cabinet as justice secretary when the parties took place, tells the BBC that Sue Gray's report did not "pull its punches" over the parties in No 10.

    But he says the report does not offer "a resolution of the issue" either.

    He praises the PM's words in the Commons, promising reform inside Downing Street, but adds: "Words are not enough, it is deeds that matter now."

    And he says "nothing can take away from the anger" of the public over the "appalling juxtaposition" of No 10 partying while others stuck to the rules.

    Instead, he says there needs to be "equality in the law and the same standards to apply to anybody", even if that means a fixed penalty notice - effectively a fine - for Boris Johnson.

  4. Constituents think PM is a wally but care about Ukraine - Tory MPpublished at 20:48 Greenwich Mean Time 31 January 2022

    During the discussions in the Commons about the Sue Gray report earlier, Conservative MP Katherine Fletcher recalled conversations she'd had with her constituents over the weekend.

    She said many of them recognised the PM had been "a wally", but given "100,000 Russians have showed up" on Ukraine's borders, they're wondering why everyone is "talking about cake".

    She asked if the prime minister agrees with that statement.

    Boris Johnson said he did and that he's focused on standing up to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    Since then, Downing Street has said officials are "looking to finalise the time" for Johnson to hold a call with Putin. Reports had suggested a planned call between them had been cancelled but No 10 says there wasn't a "settled time" for the call.

  5. PM got it wrong today: former Tory press officerpublished at 20:45 Greenwich Mean Time 31 January 2022

    Reddrop

    Oscar Reddrop, a former Conservative press officer, tells the BBC he thought Boris Johnson "tonally got it all wrong today".

    "I think the statement started off ok, I think there was contrition shown. But pretty soon after that he made the mistake of leaping back into the parliamentary theatrics of PMQs, which is a very, very different time and setting," he says.

    "Coming out swinging looked tonally so out of step today," he says.

    However, Reddrop believes Johnson may have dodged hard-hitting headlines tomorrow.

    He believes some of his own MPs were left feeling "very, very concerned".

    But once the 1922 Committee Meeting came around, Reddrop says Johnson "by all accounts has won over a great deal of MPs, telling them he nearly died fighting this".

    "He was banging the desk saying I understand I messed up and I can get this right."

  6. Liz Truss tests positive for Covidpublished at 20:40 Greenwich Mean Time 31 January 2022

    Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has tested positive for Covid, she reveals on Twitter.

    She says she will be "working from home while I isolate".

    Truss earlier appeared in the Commons chamber to update MPs on the situation in Ukraine, and then attended a meeting of the Conservative parliamentary party which was addressed by Boris Johnson.

    She had been due to accompany Johnson on a visit to Ukraine tomorrow where the prime minister will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

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  7. PM has 'no conscience', says bereaved daughterpublished at 20:38 Greenwich Mean Time 31 January 2022

    Alejandra Godoy

    Alejandra Godoy from the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Group lost her mother to the virus and couldn't attend her funeral.

    "It's just a shame that the prime minister cannot admit to what he's done," she tells the BBC.

    "Any apology isn't enough any more. For me and the bereaved families who have lost loved ones, we're still living with this every day.

    "I don't think he's going to resign. I anticipated that he might do but he hasn't got any conscience, to be honest with you. It's very disappointing."

    Asked if it would be better to wait until the full Gray report is released to make a full judgement - which the PM repeatedly urged people to do when he spoke in the Commons earlier - Godoy says the information is "plain and simple".

    "He did all the things that he did. There were all these parties going on. Many of us, the grieving families, we weren't allowed to be with our loved ones. I wasn't allowed to be at the funeral with my mum.

    "He's made all these mistakes but he's just not willing to admit to anything."

  8. 'It's disgusting - they should all resign'published at 20:28 Greenwich Mean Time 31 January 2022

    Philip Farnworth
    Image caption,

    Philip's brother died with Covid three weeks ago

    BBC reporter Nick Garnett has been in Leigh - a former Labour stronghold that was won by the Conservatives in 2019 - finding out what people there think of Sue Gray's findings.

    Cafe owner Philip Farnworth says his brother died with Covid three weeks ago but "we were fortunate enough that we could spend some time with him when he passed".

    He continues, referring to politicians and officials who attended parties when lockdowns were in place:

    Quote Message

    These people have been put in charge, they've got power. That's why they've been voted in - to change things. And all of them should resign - every single one of them that attended those parties, laughing and giggling when people were dying on their own. They should resign. If not, they should be sacked. They’ve shown their true colours."

  9. PM got tone wrong in Commons statement - ex-Scottish Tory leaderpublished at 20:23 Greenwich Mean Time 31 January 2022

    Ruth Davidson

    Former leader of the Scottish Conservatives Ruth Davidson says the prime minister "got the tone wrong" in the Commons earlier today.

    Davidson, a longstanding critic of Boris Johnson, tells the BBC there "needed to be more contrition" and that talking about free ports and making a jibe at Keir Starmer about Jimmy Savile was "completely inappropriate and put people off".

    She adds Conservative colleagues "that are thinking what to do just don’t know where it all ends and just can’t believe him when he says it’s all over".

  10. A chunk of the MPs in the room were 'flat'published at 20:18 Greenwich Mean Time 31 January 2022

    Jessica Parker
    BBC political correspondent

    A Tory MP leaving the 1922 Committee meeting says about a quarter to a third of the room was “flat”.

    They say people are still feeling “burnt” by what’s happened but thinks the PM’s been given until the local elections in the spring to see if he can fix the situation.

  11. Tory MP 'absolutely pumped' after meetingpublished at 20:12 Greenwich Mean Time 31 January 2022

    Upon leaving the 1922 Committee meeting, Peterborough MP Paul Bristow acknowledges it's been a "difficult day" but says there is support for Boris Johnson.

    Bristow says he left the meeting "absolutely pumped" and adds that nobody in the meeting had called for Johnson to go.

  12. Bereaved families 'appalled' at Sue Gray findingspublished at 20:04 Greenwich Mean Time 31 January 2022

    Sean Coughlan
    BBC News

    Safiah (second right) with her family, including her father (second left)Image source, Safiah
    Image caption,

    Safiah (second right) with her family, including her father (second left)

    "Appalling, but not particularly surprising," says Safiah Ngah, as her immediate response to Sue Gray's report into allegations of gatherings at Downing Street during Covid restrictions.

    It was "incredibly traumatic" for the 29-year-old from north London to lose her father during the pandemic.

    He was an NHS worker who died of Covid and "followed the rules to a tee", and whose family were only able to see him for a single video call from hospital.

    But the delays, disruption and gaps in Gray's report into rule-breaking have made it even more hurtful, she says.

    "It speaks volumes about who the priority is here... it's those who are in power," Safiah says.

    Read more from Safiah and other bereaved families here.

  13. PM's meeting with Tory MPs is overpublished at 19:58 Greenwich Mean Time 31 January 2022

    The meeting of the 1922 Committee is over.

    We're told it sounds like the prime minister promised much closer relations between No 10 and the parliamentary Conservative party.

    One MP says that's key and tells our correspondent Ben Wright that Boris Johnson is a PM "on probation".

  14. Tory critic of Johnson says colleagues are 'deluded'published at 19:51 Greenwich Mean Time 31 January 2022

    Iain Watson
    Political correspondent

    Emerging from the 1922 committee with Boris Johnson, a critic of the prime minister says their colleagues are "deluded".

    They say there is "no way we are getting 54 letters" of no confidence.

    The mood improved in the room when Johnson said he'd publish the full Gray report and would say so if asked at PMQs.

  15. Public expect me to speak truth to power - Blackfordpublished at 19:45 Greenwich Mean Time 31 January 2022

    Media caption,

    Watch: Ian Blackford told to leave the Commons

    Earlier, the SNP's Westminster leader Ian Blackford was ordered to leave the Commons chamber after accusing the prime minister of lying to MPs about the events at Downing Street.

    Under parliamentary rules, MPs are not allowed to accuse each other of lying in the House of Commons.

    Defending his comments on the BBC News Channel, Blackford repeats his accusation that the prime minister misled Parliament by saying on 8 December that no parties took place.

    "I think the public... expect me to speak truth to power," he says.

    He adds that Boris Johnson has "disrespected the office of prime minister" and should resign.

  16. Cheers growing for PM at meeting of Tory MPspublished at 19:38 Greenwich Mean Time 31 January 2022

    Jessica Parker
    BBC political correspondent

    Cheers have grown a bit in strength and frequency during the course of the 1922 Committee meeting of backbench Tory MPs.

    The prime minister has been stuck in there a fair while.

  17. Analysis

    Political danger for Johnson comes from the back benchespublished at 19:34 Greenwich Mean Time 31 January 2022

    Ben Wright
    BBC political correspondent

    Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, a huge Boris Johnson fan who is prepared to defend him, was on the airwaves earlier.

    It will be interesting to see over the next few hours and into tomorrow how many of her colleagues do the same.

    At the moment there is no sense of the cabinet fracturing. The prime minister would be in serious trouble if some of his colleagues around the cabinet table were thinking this was dire enough now to potentially walk.

    We're not there yet. The political danger for Johnson comes from his back benchers.

    There was a feeling towards the end of last week that the potential for Tory mutiny had dissipated. I don't think that is the case today. We can't say with any certainty at all where this may ricochet next.

  18. Rees-Mogg: Mood positive among Toriespublished at 19:27 Greenwich Mean Time 31 January 2022

    Jacob Ress-MoggImage source, EPA

    Leader of the Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg says the "mood was positive" among Conservatives.

    "We've got to remember how well the prime minister has done in the general run of being prime minister," he says.

    Rees-Mogg says Boris Johnson has a "determination to put things right" and adds that "you can't ignore a majority of 80".

    He adds: "So many people voted personally for Boris Johnson rather than voting for political parties.

    "Politicians have to accept that our bosses are the British people, and they voted for that, they put him in office."

  19. MPs beginning to leave a 'warm' meetingpublished at 19:21 Greenwich Mean Time 31 January 2022

    Jessica Parker
    BBC political correspondent

    Some Tory MPs are spilling out of the meeting but it seems PM is still inside.

    One who just left described it as “very good” and “warm”.

    The latter perhaps being more about the temperature because it’s so jampacked...

  20. Minister denies failure of leadership by Johnsonpublished at 19:18 Greenwich Mean Time 31 January 2022

    Nadine Dorries

    Earlier, Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries appeared on the BBC News Channel to defend the prime minister.

    She said Boris Johnson had apologised and "left the report to the Met and we'll wait to see what their findings are".

    Asked about Sue Gray blaming a "failure of leadership" for lockdown parties at Downing Street, she said this did not necessarily refer to Boris Johnson's leadership.

    She pointed out the prime minister had promised to implement Gray's recommendations immediately.

    "That is leadership," she added.