The long-awaited report would be emptied of its main conclusions.

British police demanded on Friday January 28 that the administrative report into the lockdown Downing Street holiday scandal be redacted of key elements, sparking outrage.

This, in order to "protect the integrity of the police investigation", as Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces his worst political crisis.

The publication of this report, written by senior civil servant Sue Gray, on the farewell parties, garden parties and Christmas or birthday parties organized in the main residence of the head of government in 2020 and 2021 has been in suspense for several days the British press and politicians.

The document is slow to be published, according to the press because of questions about what may appear in it, while the police in turn seized the scandal, upsetting the calendar.

After being criticized for their slowness to react to the revelations which had followed one another for several weeks, the police finally announced on Tuesday that they were investigating several parties which would have been organized in violation of the strict rules against the Covid-19, potentially the most damaging for Boris Johnson .

On Friday evening, the London police announced that they had received the elements necessary for their investigation from the Cabinet Office, the interministerial agency from which Sue Gray's work originated.

Investigators will now "examine these elements in detail to establish whether the individuals present at the events in question did in fact break the rules," Commander Catherine Roper said in a statement.

"They will do so without fear or favor under our normal procedures."

"To protect the integrity of the police investigation", the Met [London police] asked that only minimal reference be made "to the events at issue in Sue Gray's report", it said. - she continued, reaffirming that Scotland Yard had "not postponed" the release of the Cabinet Office report.

The text promises to be potentially largely watered down, deprived of its conclusions on the events retained by the police as the most likely to have breached the confinements.

Unless its publication is suspended until the conclusions of the police, which can take several months.

"Concealing the Truth"

Immediately, the opposition parties demanded the publication, in its entirety and without censorship, of the internal investigation, as promised by Boris Johnson on several occasions. 

On Twitter, the leader of the SNP independence party in parliament, Ian Blackford, lamented "what looks more and more like a concealment of the truth".

Families of Covid-19 victims are also offended.

For Fran Hall, spokesperson for the association "Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice", the police have "broken public trust, first by refusing to investigate these flagrant violations of the law, and now by asking that another investigation cover up the most serious illegalities that have taken place in Downing Street".

More time for Boris Johnson?

These parties have plunged Boris Johnson into a serious crisis which threatens his retention as Prime Minister, calls for the resignation having multiplied even in the conservative majority.

Many members of his camp are waiting for the publication of the internal report to decide whether or not to try to oust him by means of a vote of no confidence.

The government has denied any intervention.

Asked about ITV, the Secretary of State for Technology, Chris Philp, claimed that the executive had "no influence or involvement in the way Sue Gray and the police conduct their report and investigation", insisting on their "total independence".

In the eyes of some political commentators, this announcement is however timely for Boris Johnson, who is thus gaining time as he tries to save his place by coaxing the most rebellious MPs.

According to the newspaper The Times, the head of government is thus considering several measures that could rally them, such as suspending, to the great displeasure of the Treasury, the announced increase in social security contributions, in the midst of inflation which is cutting into the purchasing power of the British.

Downing Street assured that the government was "fully committed" to implementing this increase in the spring.

With AFP

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