Shades Of Gray On Johnson Lockdown Parties

The British press has a lot to say following the early findings of an inquiry into various parties held within Downing Street and government buildings during COVID-19 lockdowns. The report, carried out by senior civil servant Sue Gray and published in a limited form on Monday, described “failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No. 10 Downing Street and the Cabinet Office at different times” and said that some of the behavior was “difficult to justify.” The 12-page report was the result of several weeks of investigations by Gray, in which hundreds of pictures and documents were gathered that have now been passed to the Metropolitan Police as it carries out its own probe into alleged pandemic breaches by government staff. Many members of the public are scornful of the government for failing to follow the stringent Covid lockdown rules that it set for everyone else, particularly as many sacrificed their freedoms and time with loved ones. “The hardship under which citizens across the country worked, lived and sadly even died while observing the government’s regulations and guidance rigorously are known only too well,” Gray wrote in her report on Monday. “Against the backdrop of the pandemic, when the government was asking citizens to accept far-reaching restrictions on their lives, some of the behavior surrounding these gatherings is difficult to justify,” she added.