Helen Catt
Political correspondent

Boris Johnson has spoken to a meeting of his MPs about his own experience with Covid, reminding them: “I nearly died of it”.

It was described as a “barnstorming strong performance” by one attendee.

The MP also said they felt colleagues’ concerns about “full disclosure” had now been met and the mood of the room had been that they would “hang together”.

There was a lot of talk in the Commons this afternoon about the pain of bereavements during lockdown.

Emma Jones has told BBC Panorama how she was absolutely furious to learn about gatherings held in Number 10 while her teenage daughter Ruby was at the end of her life.

"I was absolutely furious," she said. "It felt like an enormous betrayal that the person setting the rules, the person telling us all to follow those rules wasn’t following them himself."

Ruby died from cancer on the same day the prime minister and his staff were photographed with bottles of wine and a cheeseboard in the Downing Street garden.

You can see part of the interview above and there is more in Panorama's Boris Johnson on the Brink at 19:30 GMT on BBC One.

Jessica Parker
BBC political correspondent

A couple of Tory MPs have actually now been turned away from the meeting of the 1922 Committee, it’s so crowded in there.

There’s some applause and cheers as Boris Johnson addresses Tory MPs - but you couldn’t call it thunderous.

Not, at least, by the usual standards of these kinds of party meetings.

But it sounds like proceedings could be wrapping up soon.

Conservative Angela Richardson says she has resigned as parliamentary private sectary to Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove, writing that she shares the public's "deep disappointment" over how allegations of lockdown parties at Downing Street have been handled.

In a statement on Facebook, external, she says she stepped back from her government responsibilities last week to invest more time in local campaigns.

"Sue Gray's report published today clearly states that there were failings at Number Ten Downing Street that let us all down," she says.

"I share the deep disappointment that it has taken so long to get to this stage when there could have been an early acknowledgement and apology."

She calls for the full details of the events investigated by Gray to be published "when appropriate", adding: "Only that way – with full disclosure – can the process of rebuilding trust begin."

Jessica Parker
BBC political correspondent

Crowded outside a room in Parliament, journalists are hovering to try to get a hint of what’s going on inside a key meeting of the 1922 Committee.

It’s busy in there - to the point some Tory MPs have nearly been turned away.

There’s been a few cheers and laughs, but it’s pretty impossible to hear what Boris Johnson is saying to try to rally his colleagues.

More from our correspondent Jess Parker, who says there are a lot of Tory MPs in the room with the prime minister as he addresses the 1922 Committee.

Jess says the pack of journalists outside are "now extremely quiet as they try to get a hint of what’s going on inside".

There are some cheers for Boris Johnson as he arrives at a meeting of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs, our correspondent Jess Parker reports.

She says he arrived with Justice Secretary Dominic Raab and Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss - widely regarded as a leadership contender in the event of any future race - has just gone into the meeting as well.

A day of political drama is not over yet for Boris Johnson.

In the next few minutes, he's scheduled to address Conservative MPs at a behind-closed-doors meeting of the 1922 Committee.

Our correspondent, Jess Parker, is outside the meeting room in Parliament.

She says Tory MPs, including the chairman of the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, have arrived and describes the room as "pretty packed".

Stay with us for more updates as we get them.

It’s been an extraordinary day in Westminster. Let’s reflect on some of the key moments (so far).

Gray day: Sue Gray ended weeks of anticipation by handing over her initial findings on lockdown parties in No 10 and government to Boris Johnson, 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 fret: Gray’s findings revealed that the Met Police was investigating 12 parties in Downing Street and other government buildings. In a statement, the force said it would 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" but that he was "a man without shame".

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.

Crunch meeting: The prime minister is shortly expected to address the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs. It could prove to be a key test of his support as he faces fresh calls to resign from some within his party.

John Ware
BBC Panorama

“Increasingly implausible excuses.”

“The schoolboy’s dog ate my homework.”

“It’s clear that the truth is not being told.”

It’s rare for a former cabinet secretary to comment critically on a serving prime minister, but Lord Turnbull does not mince his words when reacting to partygate.

In an interview for BBC Panorama, he tells me he feels partygate is just “the tip of the iceberg” and Johnson has demeaned the office of prime minister by playing “fast and loose” with the rules governing ethical standards in public office.

Lord Turnbull was cabinet secretary to Tony Blair, and principle private secretary to Margaret Thatcher and John Major. Were there not parties in Thatcher’s No 10, I ask him.

“Now just imagine it, you are in number 10 and you set a disco going and up there is Mrs Thatcher probably still awake and reading her papers, are you going to take a chance? She’d have come down in her dressing gown and told everyone to go home.”

Watch Panorama’s Boris Johnson on the Brink on BBC One at 19:30 GMT.

The PM's official spokesman has released a statement, with what appears to be a change of mind.

During his Commons statement earlier, Boris Johnson resisted calls - including from his own MPs - for him to promise to publish Gray's full report, once the police have finished their investigation.

Now his spokesman says: "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."

The spokesman adds: "The prime minister is clear we must not judge an ongoing investigation and his focus now is on addressing the general findings.”

A reminder: The Met Police said today their investigation would not take more than a year, but did not give an exact timeframe for when it would wrap up.

Image source, Reuters

After reading Sue Gray's findings today, we now know Boris Johnson attended at least three of the events being looked into by the Metropolitan Police.

Her report says the garden party on 20 May 2020, the birthday party on 19 June 2020 and a leaving party for a special adviser on 13 November 2020 were all being investigated - and we know the PM attended them.

She also confirms the police are looking at a gathering on 13 November 2020 in the Downing Street flat - where Johnson lives with his wife and two of his children.

It has not been confirmed if the PM was at that event - or the other eight being examined by the Met.

But in the Commons on 8 December 2021, he did deny a party took place in the flat on that date, adding: "I'm sure that whatever happened, the guidance was followed and the rules were followed at all times."

More lines now from the Met Police commander leading its investigation into parties, which Boris Johnson repeatedly urged MPs to wait for when facing tough criticism in the Commons earlier.

The Met has been handed more than 300 photos, Commander Catherine Roper told the media.

She also said:

• Her team would start contacting people soon to ask them questions and expected that people would "tell the truth"
• The investigation will not last "more than a year" and she wants to fast-track it
• The police asked Sue Gray to hold back information on events they are looking into because it would otherwise make it harder to interview people and have them provide "their account from their own memory"
• Police officers on duty at Downing Street could be questioned if appropriate

Iain Watson
Political correspondent

Image source, UK Parliament

At the start of the prime minister's statement, the chamber was full.

It was so packed, in fact, that Grant Shapps - the transport secretary who has tried to convince sceptical colleagues to support the PM - watched from behind the Speaker's chair.

And Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey crouched at its edge.

But an overflowing frontbench wasn't the problem for the PM.

Some Conservative backbenchers seemed to vote with their feet, and slowly drifted away, while the out and out supporters bunched on the bench behind Boris Johnson.

Labour whips gleefully suggested their opposite numbers were having trouble hiding the gaps on the green benches.

Conservative MP Mark Harper has been giving us his assessment of the prime minister’s performance in the Commons today.

Harper says the PM made a “really important statement” about “whether those who make the law, obey the law”.

“These questions are about his integrity, his honesty and his fitness for office. He’s asked us to judge him on the full facts,” he says.

But he says the PM did not commit to publishing Sue Gray’s findings in full once the Met Police has finished its investigation.

If he doesn’t do that, “we’ll need to consider whether to make a judgement on the facts that are available at the moment”, Harper says.

He says the prime minister is "on notice".

Several Tory MPs have already declared that they have no confidence in the PM's leadership, including Andrew Bridgen in the Commons earlier.

And after almost two hours, the prime minister's statement is over.

While the questions at the dispatch box are finished, Boris Johnson is set to face more, as he is due to appear in front of his party's MPs at around 18:30 GMT.

Don't worry though, we will bring you all the news and analysis as this major news day rolls into a major news night.

Stay with us for more.

Has the prime minister hit the right tone for his party?published at 17:25 Greenwich Mean Time 31 January 2022

17:25 GMT 31 January 2022

Helen Catt
Political correspondent

Boris Johnson was been pretty punchy after his initial apology in the Commons.

He flatly rejected a suggestion by the former PM Theresa May that Sue Gray's report showed No 10 had not been following the rules it set.

He's repeatedly said people needed to wait for the police investigation before drawing conclusions.

Some Conservative backbenchers have shown vocal support and backed his call to move on.

But there are signs several others have not been so keen on the tone he's taken.

And, of course, what Tory MPs make of his handling of this will be incredibly important as they decide if they want to keep him in place as prime minister.

The action inside Parliament is still continuing, but we are starting to get some reaction outside of the Commons now.

One government minister tells the BBC they still need to "take the mood" of their Tory colleagues, but they concede it was more hostile in the chamber than they anticipated.

And a former cabinet minister tells us support for Boris Johnson is "slipping away".

But they say there is "not yet an avalanche" of MPs turning against him.

Luxmy Gopal
BBC Look North

Business owner Lucy Patterson, from Hartlepool, believes lockdown parties at Downing Street will damage the trust of the public.

“I voted Labour but I know many people in this town voted for the Tories, only for them to betray their trust so quickly," she says.

"It’s a stab in the back for anyone in Hartlepool who’s put their trust in them. They’ve let the entire red wall down.”

Hartlepool turned Conservative in a by-election last May for the first time in the constituency's history - but was previously part of Labour's "red wall" of northern strongholds.

Christopher Roe voted Conservative last time but says he won't do so again.

"The town needed a change," he says. "It’s been Labour so long.

"I thought the Tories would be different but they’re not. They tell you what they need to get in. I’ve seen no promises being kept. They’ve just been breaking rules having parties in lockdown.”

Reality Check

Speaking in the Commons, Prime Minister Boris Johnson would not commit to publishing the full Sue Gray report when it is eventually provided to him, despite being twice questioned.

Labour leader Keir Starmer and Ian Blackford, the leader of the Scottish National Party in the House of Commons, both demanded its publication in full.

So did the prime minister previously promise to publish in full?

On 8 December last year, Boris Johnson told the House of Commons: “I will place a copy of the […] report in the Library of the House of Commons."

When asked again about publishing the report, he told the Commons on 26 January 2022 - last Wednesday: “When I receive it, of course I will do exactly what I said.”

But the prime minister’s official spokesman said earlier today "we will consider what will be appropriate in due course".