Ione Wells
Reporting from the House of Commons

Some of the MPs who have been more critical of the prime minister have positioned themselves far on the sides - or towards the back - of the Tory benches. Several of them are sat with their heads visibly in their hands.

But the prime minister’s words were getting nods from his frontbenchers too. Supportive backbenchers like Michael Fabricant were audibly responding to opposition heckles by shouting “hear hear” to Boris Johnson’s speech.

A few MPs are scrolling Twitter in the chamber - perhaps trying to see how the PM’s defence is landing in real time?

Boris Johnson concludes his speech by saying he is "proud" of the work the government has done.

Johnson says: "I hope that today as well as learning the lessons from Sue Gray's report... we will be able to move on and focus on the priorities of the British people.

PM says he did not knowingly mislead MPspublished at 12:55 British Summer Time 25 May 2022

12:55 BST 25 May 2022

Chris Mason
Political editor

The prime minister is going out of his way here to emphasise that he did not knowingly mislead the House of Commons.

Being proven to have done so could cost him his job – so explaining why he believes he did not is crucial.

What he had said to MPs before was “what I believed to be true” he said.

Johnson refers to what he told the Commons previously about parties in No 10, saying that he believed it to be the truth at the time.

He says: "I am happy to set on the record now that when I said I came to this House in all sincerity that the rules and guidance had been followed at all times, it was what I believed to be true

He says that he attended some everts briefly and as such was not found to have been outside of the rules. But he adds that other gatherings that he did not attend, or left, were outside the rules.

He continues:

"So I would like to correct the record to take this opportunity, not in any sense to absolve myself of any responsibility that I take and have always taken, but simply to explain why I spoke as I did in this House."

Johnson is being investigated by a Commons committee over claims that he misled Parliament about parties.

The PM also says he was "shocked" and "appalled", especially over the treatment of security and cleaning staff.

He says he had "no knowledge of" their concerns about parties being dismissed and was "surprised and disappointed" to hear about them

When he said the rules and guidance had been followed to MPs, he "believed" it, he adds.

The PM says: "I do not seek to absolve myself of responsibility" but to "simply explain why I spoke as I did in this House".

He points to Sue Gray's report about the progress being made since the interim report - including easier ways for staff to complain about behaviour.

A number of MPs laugh when he says all the senior management has changed within Downing Street.

But he says he is "confident" with the changes, that he is "humbled by the experience and have learned our lesson".

Johnson adds: "Whatever the failing of No 10 and the Cabinet Office throughout this difficult period and my own, I continue to believe the civil servants and advisers... are good, hard working people motivated... to do the very best for our country."

The PM says he is trying to set out the context, not to mitigate or excuse what happened.

He says it was "appropriate" to thank staff who were leaving for the work they had done.

And he admits to "briefly attending the gatherings" to praise them, which is a key part of "leadership".

But Johnson says the gatherings carried on afterwards and that was a breach of the rules.

"I had no knowledge of those subsequent proceedings as I simply wasn't there," he says.

The PM says over 600 days of the pandemic, gatherings over eight dates were found to have breached rules.

"These people were working extremely long hours doing their best" to help with the pandemic, Johnson adds, referring to officials and political staff in No 10.

Johnson says he is grateful to Sue Gray for the work she has done, and thanks her and the Metropolitan Police.

He says he wants to begin by renewing his apology to the house "for the short lunchtime" gathering he attended and was fined for.

He says "above all he takes full responsibility" for everything that happened.

Now PMQs is over - and Boris Johnson begins his long awaited statement to MPs after the publishing of Sue Gray's report.

Stay with us.

Chris Mason
Political editor

It was the week before Christmas that this investigation began. Today, its verdict is delivered: 37 pages. Nine photos.

You can almost smell the quantity of alcohol drunk at these parties in government when parties were banned.

Wine and cheese. Beer and pizza. Someone drinking so much they threw up. What is described as a “minor altercation” between two people. Some sort of dust up.

Staff leaving the building in the middle of the night after parties. Emails and WhatsApp messages which imply it was known what was happening was wrong.

“We seem to have got away with” it, says the prime minister’s principal private secretary Martin Reynolds in one. Well, it turns out he didn’t.

With a heavy dose of understatement, Sue Gray concludes “many will be dismayed that behaviour of this kind took place on this scale at the heart of government”.

Behaviour "fell well short” of “the very highest standards”.

Now we await the prime minister’s response, that of his MPs and what you make of it.

Image source, House of Commons

Back to PMQs, and the SNP's Westminster leader Ian Blackford doesn't hold back in his criticism of the prime minister.

He says "for eight months we've heard every excuse under the sun", but now there is "damning" photo evidence of what went on in Westminster.

Blackford concludes his question over the roar of the Commons and a shout of "withdraw that" from the benches.

The PM doesn't take up Blackford's call for him to resign, instead saying there'll be an opportunity to debate Sue Gray's report directly after PMQs.

Iain Watson
Political correspondent

As Sue Gray has now provided the detail that was missing from her January update, it has become crystal clear just how many of these events were not "off the cuff" or drinking at the desk.

Instead, many of them - not the just the controversial "bring your own booze events" – were planned in advance.

The press office Christmas party in 2020 – which was initially revealed in the Mirror – was originally billed as a "Wine & Cheese Evening" but there must have been a recognition that this could fall foul of the rules, as it was subsequently rebadged as an "End of Year Meeting with Wine & Cheese".

Image source, Getty Images

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey has given his response to the report, writing on Twitter: "The Sue Gray report lays bare the shocking failures of leadership by Boris Johnson and shows why he's not fit to lead our country.

"Any other PM would be forced to resign by a report as damaging as this, yet still Conservative MPs defend Johnson and allow him to cling on."

In her report, Sue Gray says she limited who she was identifying to "the most high-ranking individuals who knew about and/or attended an event".

She also says she is naming "senior civil servants or special advisers who were significant to the organisation of such gatherings, given their wider responsibility for the leadership and culture of the departments".

Gray adds the decision about who to name "has not been easy".

Image source, PA Media

Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner tweets her verdict on the report's findings: "It’s indefensible.

"Boris Johnson’s Downing Street is rotten from the very top.

"He set the culture. It happened on his watch. It’s on him."

Iain Watson
Political correspondent

The initial Sue Gray report identified failures of leadership at No 10 and in the Cabinet Office.

In her conclusions today she makes it explicit that she is not just referring to the civil service.

But in clear terms she says "the senior leadership at the centre, both political and official must bear responsibility" for the culture at the heart of government.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer tells a packed House of Commons that he is looking forward to discussing the Sue Gray report after the PM's statement.

But he says "for now I want to focus on the cost of living" and asks when the PM will use the profits of energy companies to help bring down people's bills?

Boris Johnson says Labour always wants to tax business but says he is already helping people with the cost of living.

It's now been 40 minutes since the Sue Gray report was published. We've brought you her main conclusions, and - while we listen to Prime Minister's Questions - let's also take a look at some detail from Gray.

Her report says the following on Boris Johnson's surprise birthday party in 2020:

It was previously said that Boris Johnson had attended the event for nine minutes. The report says he was there for 20.

Boris Johnson is on his feet as Prime Minister's Questions begins. He'll be facing opposition politicians demanding answers after the publication of the Partygate report.