U.K.’s Boris Johnson gets ‘partygate’ report after lockdown-breaching bashes

Allegations that the prime minister and his staff flouted restrictions imposed on the country to curb the spread of the coronavirus have caused public anger.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been handed an investigator’s long-awaited report into lockdown-breaching government parties, the government said Monday — but findings about the most serious allegations have been withheld pending a police investigation.

The Cabinet Office said senior civil servant Sue Gray “has provided an update on her investigations to the Prime Minister.”

Johnson’s office says the report will be published and the prime minister will address Parliament about its findings later Monday.

But the “update” is unlikely to tell the full story about claims that have rocked Johnson’s Conservative government. Some of Gray’s findings have been cut at the request of police, who have launched a separate investigation into whether several of the almost 20 gatherings she investigated broke COVID-19 laws.

Allegations that the prime minister and his staff flouted restrictions imposed on the country to curb the spread of the coronavirus have caused public anger, led some Conservative lawmakers to call for Johnson’s resignation and triggered intense infighting inside the governing party.

Johnson has denied personal wrongdoing and said he has “absolutely no intention” of resigning.

But Johnson’s grip on power has been weakened by allegations that he and his staff flouted restrictions they imposed on the country in 2020 and 2021 to curb the spread of the coronavirus with “bring your own booze” office parties, birthday celebrations and “wine time Fridays.”

Publication of Gray’s report was delayed when the Metropolitan Police force launched its own investigation last week into the most serious alleged breaches of coronavirus rules.