Politics

Susanna Reid on fire as she grills Tory MP over PM’s lawbreaking activities

Susanna Reid was unrelenting on Good Morning Britain as she grilled a Conservative MP over the prime minister’s lawbreaking activities.

The long-awaited Sue Gray partygate report is finally set to be published this week, as Boris Johnson faces calls to explain the purpose of a “secret” meeting with the senior civil servant.

Reports have suggested the document, expected to be published in the coming days, will feature photographs of illegal gatherings.

It was also reported that top civil servant Simon Case will be particularly hard-hit by the contents, despite the fact he was not fined over the scandal.

Met Police inquiries

It follows the conclusion of a separate inquiry by the Metropolitan Police into Covid rule-breaking events at the heart of Government, which saw a total of 83 people receive at least one fixed-penalty notice (FPN) each for attending events over eight separate days.

Boris Johnson received just one fine, for his 56th birthday gathering in June 2020 when indoor mixing was banned, along with his wife Carrie Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

Both Johnsons were later told by police they faced no further action, according to Downing Street, and Sunak has not received an additional FPN.

The Telegraph cited a source as saying Case will come in for “stinging criticism” in the Gray report.

Life and death

Questioning Simon Clarke on the report, Reid asked: “How can you have full confidence in a prime minister who breaks the law?”

Replying that Johnson was working on questions of life and death, Clarke was quickly shut down as Reid said:

“Not like doctors and nurses, who were actually dealing with life and death.”

Watch the clip in full below:

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Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

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