Politics LIVE: Sue Gray report to be stripped of details of Downing Street parties
Boris Johnson faced Sir Keir Starmer and other members of the Opposition in PMQs while the Gray inquiry nears.
Scotland Yard has confirmed it asked “for minimal reference” to be made in the Sue Gray report to alleged incidents on Downing Street the force is currently investigating.
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Hide AdIn a statement, it said: “For the events the Met is investigating, we asked for minimal reference to be made in the Cabinet Office report.
“The Met did not ask for any limitations on other events in the report, or for the report to be delayed, but we have had ongoing contact with the Cabinet Office, including on the content of the report, to avoid any prejudice to our investigation.”
Police launched their own probe into multiple events in No 10 after being passed information from the Gray inquiry.
We’ll have live updates in our blog.
Politics LIVE: Downing Street braced for Sue Gray report as Boris Johnson faces further questions
Scotland Yard has confirmed it asked “for minimal reference” to be made in the Sue Gray report to alleged incidents on Downing Street the force is currently investigating.
In a statement, it said: “For the events the Met is investigating, we asked for minimal reference to be made in the Cabinet Office report.
“The Met did not ask for any limitations on other events in the report, or for the report to be delayed, but we have had ongoing contact with the Cabinet Office, including on the content of the report, to avoid any prejudice to our investigation.”
No 10 has given no indication that it has received the Sue Gray report into possible rule-breaking parties in Downing Street, Chris Philp said.
The technology minister, asked on Sky News whether the civil servant’s inquiry findings have been handed in, said: “I spoke to someone in Downing Street about half an hour ago, and they certainly didn’t indicate that it had been received.
“So, I don’t know a lot more than you do but I’ve certainly got no information as of right now that it has been received.”
The Prime Minister has travelled to North Wales, rather than wait in No 10 for Ms Gray’s report to arrive.
Asked if he had been involved in delaying it, Mr Johnson told reporters: “Absolutely not but you’ve got to let the independent inquiries go on.”
He said “of course” it would be published in full, but officials have made clear that is only the intention of No 10, as they are not yet aware what the format will be and whether any sensitive personal or security information would need to be redacted.
Mr Johnson’s official spokesman said “we are in no way seeking to block the report” and “it remains our intention to publish the report as it is received from the investigation”.
Drug addicts, people affected by substance abuse and those in recovery are being asked to make recommendations about rehabilitation services.
Scotland’s drugs policy minister Angela Constance announced a collaboration of past and present drug users, charities and third-sector organisations that will meet to suggest ideas for the Scottish Government.
Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of allowing overseas firms “with woeful human rights records” to profit from Scotland’s offshore wind projects.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said the ScotWind deal announced by the First Minister had “sold on the cheap” permission for 17 new offshore wind farms along Scotland’s coast.
Contracts worth almost £700 million were awarded on Monday, with Ms Sturgeon describing the deal as “one of the most exciting things for Scotland in a long, long time”.
But at First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, Mr Sarwar raised the “questionable human rights records” of some of the successful firms.
He also warned that foreign countries would have a bigger stake in the offshore energy produced in Scotland than the Scottish Government.
Mr Sarwar said: “This SNP Government have sold on the cheap the right to profit from Scotland’s energy transition to multinational companies with questionable human rights records.
“One of the new owners of Scotland’s seabed were fined 54 million US dollars for bribing Nigerian officials and 88 million US dollars for bribing Indonesian officials.
“Another one was found to have contributed to human rights abuses at one of its construction sites, of destroying villages in Myanmar, of relying on forced labour and using slavery to build pipelines.
Nicola Sturgeon says “There’s an urgent need of reform of our social care services and that is what we’re taking forward through our proposals for the National Care Service by the end of this Parliament.”