Senior civil servant Sue Gray published her long-awaited report into lockdown-breaching parties held at UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Downing Street office, which led police to hand out 126 fines.  

The fines make Downing Street the most heavily-fined workplace in the country over the pandemic. 

The revelations of boozy Downing Street events, which took place while social mixing was all but banned under stringent laws Johnson's government had made to curb COVID-19, threatened his grip on power and led him to commission the report.

Today said he was appalled by some of its uncovered behavior.

"I ... am humbled and I have learned a lesson," he told parliament to jeers from the opposition benches.

Key points

Sue Gray looked at 16 'gatherings' between May 15, 2020 and November 16, 2021.

Boris Johnson was at nine of those events. The report included nine photographs of him attending them.

Police issued 126 fines to 83 people relating to eight of those events, one of them to Boris Johnson and one to finance minister Rishi Sunak.

Gray said senior political and official leadership must bear responsibility for the events, many of which should not have happened.

The report in quotes 

At one June 2020 event, Gray noted there was "excessive alcohol consumption" that led to one person vomiting and a fight between two others.

"Best of luck – a complete non-story but better than them focusing on our drinks (which we seem to have got away with)" – a WhatsApp message from the then senior civil servant Martin Reynolds, cited in the report. He has since resigned. 

"I was made aware of multiple examples of a lack of respect and poor treatment of security and cleaning staff" – Gray damns No 10 staff behavior. Johnson apologized specifically for this finding in parliament. 

"A number of individuals gathered near a child's swing/slide in the garden, damaging it by leaning on and playing with it" – Gray describes an event on April 16, 2020, the day before Prince Phillip's funeral. Due to social distancing rules, the Queen attended the service surrounded by empty seats. 

"Many will be dismayed that behavior of this kind took place on this scale at the heart of government. The public have a right to expect the very highest standards of behaviour in such places and clearly what happened fell well short of this" – One of Sue Gray's eight points in her conclusions.

The report's conclusions

"The excessive consumption of alcohol is not appropriate in a professional workplace at any time," the report insists. "Steps must be taken to ensure that every government department has a clear and robust policy in place covering the consumption of alcohol in the workplace."

Junior staffers who ended up fined by London's Metropolitan police – a majority of them women – had been told to attend events by their bosses. 

"Many of these events should not have been allowed to happen," the report said. "The senior leadership at the center, both political and official, must bear responsibility for this culture."

Gray notes that she is "reassured" that processes have now been put in place so staff can more easily "raise concerns electronically, in person or online.”