Latest on Boris Johnson 'Partygate' probe report

The report has landed and it is a lot more critical than many had expected.

Despite the Metropolitan Police investigation pulling the teeth from Senior British civil servant Sue Gray’s investigation, she has left enough crumbs for Westminster to feed off — and for Boris Johnson to feel less than comfortable for the foreseeable future.

In her general findings, Gray says that there were “failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No 10 and the Cabinet Office at different times. Some of the events should not have been allowed to take place. Other events should not have been allowed to develop as they did.”

She also said that “some of the behavior surrounding these gatherings is difficult to justify.”

Crucially, she has revealed that only four of the 16 gatherings initially referred for investigation as not reaching the threshold for investigation by London's Metropolitan Police. One of the gatherings that reached the police threshold is the alleged birthday party for Johnson.

Gray finishes the report by saying that the police investigation “unfortunately” means she is “extremely limited in what I can say about those events and it is not possible at present to provide a meaningful report”.

It’s likely that those who want Johnson removed from power won’t move until we know a little more about the police investigation.

However, the fact that this update has been so damning is very worrying for Johnson. And he will learn later tonight — at a meeting of his backbenchers — exactly how angry his own lawmakers are and how secure his political future might be.

Sue Gray investigated 16 different gatherings that took place in the heart of government while Britain was under strict Covid-19 rules, the civil servant wrote in her stripped-back findings on Monday.

But details of the events were not included in the report, due to a police investigation that scuppered Gray's probe.

"Failures of leadership" took place in Boris Johnson's government that allowed parties to take place during Covid-19 restrictions, Sue Gray's report says.

"At times it seems there was too little thought given to what was happening across the country in considering the appropriateness of some of these gatherings, the risks they presented to public health and how they might appear to the public," the report reads.

"There were failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No 10 and the Cabinet Office at different times. Some of the events should not have been allowed to take place. Other events should not have been allowed to develop as they did."

Sue Gray's report says that "against the backdrop of the pandemic, when the Government was asking citizens to accept far-reaching restrictions on their lives, some of the behaviour surrounding these gatherings is difficult to justify."

"At least some of the gatherings in question represent a serious failure to observe not just the high standards expected of those working at the heart of Government but also of the standards expected of the entire British population at the time," it adds.

A version of Sue Gray's report into parties in Boris Johnson's government during coronavirus restrictions has been published.

We'll post its key lines here.

Senior British civil servant Sue Gray's report has been billed as make-or-break for Prime Minister Boris Johnson — a damning judgment that he broke his own pandemic rules could turn his party against him and force him from office.

But there are more questions than answers so far on Monday, thanks in large part to a late intervention last week by the Metropolitan Police.

Their own investigation means we won't see Gray's full findings today -- and that leaves several areas of confusion on the road ahead.

How damning is today's slimmed-down report? Gray is understood to have delivered some overarching findings to Downing Street, without details on several events that the police are probing. If this version of her investigation is underwhelming, the government will likely try to draw a line under the scandal. It's unclear if that will wash with the British public, however, which has been united in anger over the allegations of parties while the rest of the country was living under strict restrictions.

On the other hand, if Gray's conclusions are critical of Johnson, the scandal will only deepen — and anticipation for the full report will increase.

Will we ever see the full findings? Gray may decide to publish the full report once the police have finished their investigation. It was believed to be imminent when, last week, the Met said they would probe the parties and asked for "minimal reference" in Gray's report to the gatherings they're also looking at.

Downing Street has always said it will publish whatever Gray sends it, but on Monday a spokesperson said they will "keep under review" whether to put the full, unredacted report in the public domain.

If they do try to keep it from the public, they will have a political fight on their hands that would drag the scandal onward for days or weeks. The opposition Labour Party has demanded the full findings be published, as have some Conservatives, and it will be difficult to avoid the appearance of a cover-up if the long-promised inquest never sees the light of day.

What will Boris Johnson do? Johnson has apologized for some of the parties that were made public, but has sought to move the narrative onto the economy and the Ukraine-Russia border crisis in recent appearances in Parliament.

He will likely be hoping that Monday's findings give him enough leeway to move on from the scandal, possibly by promising a reform of Downing Street culture but refusing to resign.

But he is certain to face questions on the scandal beyond Monday, regardless of what is made public.

Will this end Johnson's premiership? That all depends on what the report says, who sees it, and which course of action Conservative lawmakers decide to take.

If 15% of the party's MPs demand a vote of no confidence in Johnson, a poll will take place — and then a simple majority would force the leader out. A vote seemed to be edging closer in recent weeks as more allegations were made public, and a critical report could sway enough backbenchers to trigger one.

Downing Street confirmed that it will publish the slimmed-down version of the "Partygate" report it received today -- but did not commit to releasing the full version, which is expected to arrive once London's Metropolitan Police force has finished its investigation of government parties.

“Obviously we will need to consider what might be appropriate and we are discussing with the Cabinet Office team in due course about what might be appropriate, but at the moment it is unclear how the ongoing Met Police investigation might interact with any further work on that," a spokesperson told reporters, according to PA Media.

"But obviously it’s something we will want to keep under review," the spokesperson added.

Lawmakers across the political spectrum, including some inside Boris Johnson's own party, have demanded that a full report is made public -- and Johnson would attract loud criticism if he refuses to do so.

Boris Johnson will make a statement to MPs on the Sue Gray report at 3.30 p.m. (10:30 a.m. ET), a House of Commons spokesperson told CNN.

Boris Johnson commissioned the internal inquiry into "Partygate" after numerous reports of social events, mostly held at a time when Britons were banned from meeting their friends and relatives indoors, sent his premiership into crisis and led to calls from all quarters that he should resign.

But the report itself was plunged into turmoil last week when the Metropolitan Police said it too would investigate the parties.

Johnson was accused of attending some of the events, including a birthday party for himself in June 2020, when people from different households were not allowed to gather indoors, and a "bring your own booze" celebration that the Prime Minister claimed to have thought was a work event.

One party was even held in Downing Street the night before Prince Philip's funeral. Coronavirus restrictions in force at the time meant that the Queen had to sit by herself in the chapel at Windsor Castle during the service. Johnson has since apologized to the Queen for the gathering.