Amid speculation about whether Boris Johnson will be fined for a lockdown party at No. 10, there is also concern in Whitehall about how to deal with the consequences of senior civil servants involved as rally organizers when the full report is finally released. It comes as Helen MacNamara, the former head of decency and ethics in the cabinet’s office, apologized after a leak that named her as one of the 20 people fined following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police. A senior source said there was concern that details in Gray’s report, which is a senior civil servant, would throw some civil servants in the wrong light and there may be indications that some knowingly broke the rules when organizing rallies, leading to possible disciplinary action. . Gray has the power to name senior civil servants in her report, though she may choose not to use it. In her interim report, she did not name or mention only the “senior official whose main function is to directly support the prime minister” – believed to be a reference to Martin Reynolds, the chief private secretary. Contact the team securely: create a Protonmail account and email us at [email protected] or use Signal Messenger or WhatsApp to send a message to +44 7824 537227 The government has pledged to reveal whether or not Secretary-General Simon Keys is receiving notice of a fixed sentence, but intends to keep other names secret. Gray will not know who received the fine when she published her report after the Scotland Yard investigation was completed. Downing Street on Monday defended the “anonymous procedure” of the Met investigation, according to which the names of those fined are not officially made public. Some Tory lawmakers are increasingly unhappy with the revelations, however, with supporter Steve Brine saying: “I would think the best thing is just transparency, open the curtains.” The Met is expected to issue a new wave of fines in the coming weeks, with Gray releasing her full report as soon as possible, possibly after the local elections in May. Despite the investigation, the cabinet ministers tried to draw a line under the partygate scandal on Monday. Brexit Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg said the party fines “are not the most important issue in the world” because of the atrocities in Ukraine, while Simon Hart, the Welsh minister, insisted that “the world has moved on”. .
