Mail Online

Sorry saga has left government in limbo

ANY hope of full and rapid answers over the Downing Street parties row appeared to evaporate yesterday.

Sue Gray, the senior civil servant in charge of the investigation, has completed her report. The expectation was that it would be published in full earlier this week, or on Monday – but the waters have been muddied again.

Police top brass have asked for the Gray report to be shorn of detail about the events it will be investigating. Part of the reason is that it may prejudice the police probe, but whatever the motivation the net result is that voters are likely to be left in the dark. How long it will take police to conclude their inquiries is unknown, and in the meantime we may be saddled with an incomplete version of events.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s fate is therefore undecided, and while the latest developments may have bought him valuable time to placate restive backbenchers, his authority has been undermined.

Meanwhile, Nicola Sturgeon shamelessly took the opportunity to comment that the ‘process of inquiry is aiding Johnson at the expense of public accountability’. Yet only a year ago she was the subject of two extensive probes into her own conduct during the Alex Salmond saga – and one concluded she had misled parliament.

During that unedifying episode, which dragged Holyrood’s reputation into the mire, the SNP was accused of obfuscation, and refusing to cooperate with MSPs tasked with examining the First Minister’s knowledge of harassment claims against her former mentor.

The final judgment of the former prosecutor who eventually cleared her of breaching the ministerial code was heavily redacted – to the extent that its author voiced concern about the volume of material that had been cut out.

The leader of a government that has shown no discernible interest in ‘public accountability’ should pause before condemning another administration for its failings. In the parties row, the prospect of a censored report, and a lengthy police inquiry, means any meaningful resolution may be weeks or months away, and that will only increase internal tensions – with the Scottish Tories already demanding Mr Johnson’s resignation.

Truly, it is a mess of enormous proportions, and it will be a millstone around the Prime Minister’s neck until we finally get to the bottom of the serious allegations that have split his party. And yet while the controversy drags on, the cost of living crisis continues to escalate and Ukraine is facing the threat of Russian invasion. It’s time for government to focus on more pressing matters, but that can only be done by calling a halt to this bureaucratic farce – and telling voters what they deserve to know.

Ukraine On The Brink

en-gb

2022-01-29T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-01-29T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://mailonline.pressreader.com/article/281801402353596

dmg media (UK)