The Cabinet Office has paused its probe into the partygate investigator’s discussions with Labour about a senior party role.
The Cabinet Office has accused partygate investigator Sue Gray of declining to speak to the inquiry into her discussions with Labour about a senior party role.
Ms Gray, who led a Government investigation into allegations of parties being held in Downing Street during the coronavirus lockdown, “chose not to” make representations as part of the process, Secretary of State in the Cabinet Office Oliver Dowden said.
In a written statement to the House of Commons, he said that under Civil Service guidance, any contact between senior civil servants and leading members of opposition parties should be cleared by ministers.
But he did not say whether the Cabinet Office deemed her to have broken rules, as had been suggested by several reports.
The internal probe into her departure from Whitehall has been paused “whilst we consider next steps”, Mr Dowden wrote.
The Cabinet Office has made “confidential” submissions to the anti-corruption watchdog, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), which will “consider evidence from a range of sources to make a recommendation on any appropriate restrictions on the appointment”, Mr Dowden wrote.
