Boris Johnson is addressing the House of Commons as he sets out his formal response to the Sue Gray report.

       The 37-page report into the partygate scandal concluded that the “senior leadership” in No 10 must “bear responsibility” for the culture which led to coronavirus lockdown rules being broken.

       Follow the latest updates here.

       Boris Johnson told MPs: "Sue Gray's report has emphasised that it is up to the political leadership in No 10 to take ultimate responsibility and of course I do.

       "But since these investigations have now come to an end, this is my first opportunity to set out some of the context and to explain both my understanding of what happened and also to explain what I have previously said to this House."

       "And it is important to set out that over a period of about 600 days gatherings on a total of eight dates have been found to be in breach of the regulations in a building that is 5,300 metres square, across five floors, excluding the flats."

       Boris Johnson is now delivering his statement in the House of Commons.

       He said: "I want to begin today by renewing my apology to the House and to the whole country for the short lunchtime gathering on the 19th of June 2020 in the Cabinet room during which I stood at my place at the Cabinet table and for which I received a fixed penalty notice.

       "I also want to say above all that I take full responsibility for everything that took place on my watch."

       While Sir Keir Starmer did not question the PM on partygate at PMQs, the SNP's Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, did choose to do so.

       Mr Blackford branded the Sue Gray report “damning” and asked: “Will the Prime Minister now take the opportunity and resign?”

       He said: “Empty bottles littering offices, rooms so crowded people were sitting on each other’s laps and security forced to intervene because the parties were so outrageous."

       He added: "While people stayed at home to protect the NHS, the Prime Minister was engaging in drinking and debauchery that makes a mockery of the gut wrenching sacrifices that each and every person made.”

       Mr Johnson replied: “Much as I appreciate his advice, he’ll have a further opportunity which I’m sure he will take with his customary length to debate that matter in the course of the statement which will follow directly after PMQs.”

       Angela Rayner, the deputy leader of the Labour Party, said: "It’s indefensible.

       “Boris Johnson’s Downing Street is rotten from the very top. He set the culture. It happened on his watch. It’s on him.”

       Lobby Akinnola, a spokesman for the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice campaign group, said: "There we have it. Whilst the country had one of the highest death rates in the world from Covid-19, they were celebrating over cheese and wine and drinking themselves sick over a karaoke machine.

       "When they refused to learn lessons and allowed the virus to run riot in the second wave, killing more people than it had in the first, they instead prioritised Secret Santa.

       "When they were texting colleagues about getting away with it, we were having to text our families telling them they couldn't come to their loved ones' funerals."

       Monday's leak to ITV News of one of the most damning pictures contained in the report bears all the hallmarks of a deliberate attempt by No 10 to draw the sting out of today's publication, writes Associate Editor Gordon Rayner.

       The picture of the Prime Minister raising what Sue Gray concludes is an alcoholic drink in a toast to departing communications chief Lee Cain on November 13, 2020, is the most uncomfortable of all the pictures contained in the report, making others - particularly those of his birthday "party" - look rather tame by comparison.

       It is a classic Westminster trick to build up expectation of bad news - such as predicting disastrous defeats at local elections - in the knowledge that the reality will not be anything like as bad, thus taking the drama out of the event when it happens.

       Anyone expecting to see pictures of roaring drunk Number 10 staff will be sorely disappointed. The PM's now famous birthday party looks more like the world's worst working lunch, with shop-bought sandwiches, jugs of fruit juice and cans of Coke.

       Even the Lee Cain leaving event seems muted in Ms Gray's description, with the PM stopping briefly to give a speech and raise a toast on his way from his office to his upstairs flat.

       The Sue Gray report into partygate contains nine different photographs of different events in No 10.

       The one below is from the PM's "birthday party" in the Cabinet room on June 19, 2020.

       You can see the rest of the images here.

       Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “This report lays bare the shocking failures of leadership by Boris Johnson and shows why he's not fit to be Prime Minister of our country.

       "Any other Prime Minister would be forced to resign by a report as damaging as this, yet still Conservative MPs defend Johnson and allow him to cling on. Johnson has dragged his entire government through the mud to protect his own job.

       “He didn’t care while he laughed and broke the rules while the country was in lockdown. And he doesn’t care now when every household in Britain faces eye-watering costs at the petrol pumps, sky-rocketing food prices and massive energy bills.”

       Sir Keir Starmer said the Government had "dithered and delayed" on imposing a windfall tax on energy giants to help tackle the cost of living crisis.

       He then mocked Boris Johnson as he said: "What is it about the Sue Gray report that first attracted him to a U-turn this week?"

       Mr Johnson said: "There is no surprise about Labour's lust to put up taxes, there is nothing original about it."

       Instead of asking about partygate, Sir Keir Starmer focused his questions at PMQs on the cost of living crisis.

       The Labour leader said that the "inevitable U-turn may finally have arrived" on the windfall tax amid reports the Government will announce something on the issue in the coming days.

       Asked when the Government will act, Mr Johnson said there is "nothing original about a Labour plan to tax business".

       He would not be drawn on when an announcement could be made as he pointed to the already announced support for families.

       Boris Johnson is now on his feet in the House of Commons as he answers questions at PMQs.

       Sir Keir Starmer declined to ask Mr Johnson questions about the Sue Gray report as he said he will wait until Mr Johnson's statement which will follow immediately after PMQs.

       Sue Gray concluded her report by saying that the parties and behaviour in No 10 during the pandemic "did not reflect the prevailing culture in Government" at the time.

       She wrote: "Many will be dismayed that behaviour 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.

       "It is my firm belief, however, that these events did not reflect the prevailing culture in Government and the Civil Service at the time.

       "Many thousands of people up and down the country worked tirelessly to deliver in unprecedented times. I remain immensely proud to be a civil servant and of the work of the service and the wider public sector during the pandemic."

       Sue Gray said that the fact senior members of staff were in attendance at some partygate gatherings should be taken into account if and when disciplinary action is taken against officials.

       She wrote: "The matter of what disciplinary action should now take place is outside of the scope of this report and is for others to consider. Nothing set out in this report can be taken as constituting a disciplinary investigation or findings of fact appropriate for such a purpose.

       "However, I do offer a reflection: while there is no excuse for some of the behaviour set out here it is important to acknowledge that those in the most junior positions attended gatherings at which their seniors were present, or indeed organised. I have no doubt that they will have taken the learning from this experience and, while this is not a matter for me, I hope this will be taken into account in considering any disciplinary action."

       Sue Gray said that during the course of her investigation she was made aware of "multiple examples" of "unacceptable" behaviour towards No 10 security and cleaning staff.

       She wrote: "I found that some staff had witnessed or been subjected to behaviours at work which they had felt concerned about but at times felt unable to raise properly.

       "I was made aware of multiple examples of a lack of respect and poor treatment of security and cleaning staff. This was unacceptable."

       Boris Johnson oversaw an overhaul of the Downing Street operation in January after Sue Gray published her damning interim report on the partygate scandal.

       Ms Gray said in her full report that she was "pleased progress is being made in addressing the issues I raised".

       She said: "I commented on the fragmentary and complicated leadership structures in No 10. Since my update there have been changes to the organisation and management of Downing Street and the Cabinet Office with the aim of creating clearer lines of leadership and accountability and now these need the chance and time to bed in."

       The official Sue Gray report states that it is the "senior leadership" in Downing Street who must "bear responsibility" for the culture in No 10 during the pandemic.

       She said: "I have already commented in my update on what I found to be failures of leadership and judgment in No 10 and the Cabinet Office. The events that I investigated were attended by leaders in government. Many of these events should not have been allowed to happen.

       "It is also the case that some of the more junior civil servants believed that their involvement in some of these events was permitted given the attendance of senior leaders. The senior leadership at the centre, both political and official, must bear responsibility for this culture."

       Sue Gray said in her report that "whatever the initial intent" of some of the partygate gatherings, what took place at many of them "was not in line with Covid guidance at the time".

       She said: "Even allowing for the extraordinary pressures officials and advisers were under, the factual findings of this report illustrate some attitudes and behaviours inconsistent with that guidance."

       The Sue Gray report into the partygate scandal has now been published by the Government.

       I will be speeding through it to spell out the key conclusions.

       Boris Johnson is expected to say he has been “humbled” by the findings of the Sue Gray report when he addresses MPs later today.

       Pre-drafted comments will see Mr Johnson say: “I commissioned this report to set the record straight and allow us all to move on. I accept full responsibility for my failings. I am humbled by the whole experience and we have learned our lesson.”

       The decision to include just nine photographs in the Sue Gray report, despite more than 300 being uncovered during the civil service inquiry and handed to police, will come under scrutiny.

       Among those photographs is expected to be shots of Boris Johnson toasting a colleague’s departure during lockdown, which emerged this week via ITV News.

       Boris Johnson's statement in the House of Commons in response to the Sue Gray report is expected to begin immediately after Prime Minister's Questions.

       PMQs will get underway at noon and should wrap up just after 12.30pm. Which means Mr Johnson's statement should start before 12.45pm.

       Downing Street has previously committed to publishing the Sue Gray report as soon as possible after it has been received. Now that it is in No 10's possession Westminster is still waiting for it to appear.

       There is now less than an hour until the start of Prime Minister's Questions. If it is published before PMQs then there is little doubt that Sir Keir Starmer would use it as the main focus for his six questions.

       So waiting a little to publish could be politically advantageous for the PM. Dropping it immediately before PMQs or just after it gets underway would spike Sir Keir's guns and ensure the PM is only grilled on the findings once - when he delivers a statement later this afternoon. However, such a delaying tactic would spark a furious row.

       Downing Street is lining up a string of cost of living announcements to move the headlines on from Sue Gray's partygate report, which is expected to be published any minute, Ben Riley-Smith reports.

       The Telegraph understands confirmation that an oil and gas windfall tax is coming is expected tomorrow, with fresh details about what the money will be spent on.

       An expansion of the Warm Homes Discount, extra help for those on Universal Credit, a council tax cut and other wider measures like slashing VAT on energy bills have all been looked at.

       It is even possible Boris Johnson could confirm something is imminent at his press conference this afternoon if he is asked by reporters. Watch this space.

       Sue Gray’s partygate report is understood to be 37 pages long and also has nine photos – including pictures of Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak and Simon Case.

       The atmosphere among Tory MPs is "sulphurous" after photos emerged earlier this week of Boris Johnson raising a toast at Downing Street.

       While the majority of backbenchers are lying low ahead of Sue Gray's report pictures of Mr Johnson with a drink in his hand have done little to calm nerves.

       "After those photos came out, the mood has been pretty sulphurous," a senior Conservative MP and former Cabinet minister told The Telegraph. "People are pretty shocked."

       As Ben Riley-Smith, The Telegraph's Political Editor, has pointed out on Twitter, a lot of the key players in No 10 will already broadly know what the Sue Gray report says about them:

       Now that the Sue Gray report has been handed to Downing Street, Boris Johnson will be busy reading a hard copy.

       Downing Street is then expected to publish the document on the Government's website. Timing of this has not been confirmed but it had been suggested to The Telegraph that it could appear at 11am.

       After that Westminster will race through the report before Mr Johnson's appearance at Prime Minister's Questions.

       The PM will then deliver a statement in the House of Commons later this afternoon when he will formally respond to its findings.

       Eagle-eyed Twitter users have pointed out that it is two years to the day since Dominic Cummings held a press conference in the Downing Street Rose Garden as he answered questions about his lockdown trip to Durham.

       There is clearly something about May 25 and major events in Westminster.

       A Cabinet Office spokesman said: "We can confirm that Sue Gray has provided her final report to the Prime Minister."

       Reports suggest the document is about 40 pages long.

       A Commons investigation into whether Boris Johnson deliberately misled Parliament over partygate is unlikely to begin for at least two weeks, reports Tony Diver.

       The Privileges Committee is set to investigate the Prime Minister's claim last year that he had been "repeatedly assured since these allegations emerged that there was no party and that no Covid rules were broken" in No 10.

       The investigation was originally planned to begin after the publication of Sue Gray's report, but the committee must first finish its current piece of work into whether select committees should have the power to compel witnesses to attend.

       There is one meeting left of that inquiry, which will probably take place soon after Parliament returns from recess on June 6.

       The committee must also elect a new chairman for the probe, after the existing head Chris Bryant recused himself. At least two of the three PPSs on the panel are expected to resign their government jobs to investigate Mr Johnson.

       Confirmation from the Leader of the House of Commons that Boris Johnson will be making a statement on the Sue Gray report this afternoon.

       Timing is still to be confirmed but is thought it is likely to take place immediately after PMQs.

       Lord Kerslake, the former head of the Civil Service, has predicted the Sue Gray report will be "very, very tough on the leadership of the PM and the senior civil servants involved” in partygate.

       The peer also stressed it is “really important” that Ms Gray is not undermined.

       He told Sky News: “I have been deeply concerned about some of the comments that have been made undermining the credibility of what she has been doing, suggesting she is going beyond her brief – that is terrible.

       “I am pretty clear, from what I understand, it will be very, very tough on the leadership of the PM and the senior civil servants involved, and that is right, in my view. There has been an appalling lapse of standards and we need to recognise that.”

       The Sue Gray report has not yet been delivered to Downing Street but it is still expected to be handed over this morning.

       That means it should be published before Prime Minister's Questions gets underway in the House of Commons at noon.

       Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, will not be resigning over the Sue Gray report, The Telegraph understands.

       The country's most senior civil servant will also not be sacked by Boris Johnson over partygate.

       Sir Charles Walker has said he does not think the Sue Gray report will be a “seminal moment” for Boris Johnson.

       The MP for Broxbourne told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think the Sue Gray report will make uncomfortable reading and it will make uncomfortable reading for No 10, but if you’re looking at this through the lens of ‘will it be a seminal moment for the Prime Minister?’, I don’t think it will be. I think the seminal moment was the conclusion of the police report with no further penalties issued beyond the one for the birthday cake.”

       He added: “My suspicion is – actually my strong inclination is – that the Prime Minister is through the worst of it.”

       Lord Kerslake, the former head of the Civil Service, said he believes Boris Johnson "intentionally" misled Parliament over partygate.

       He told Times Radio: “He (Mr Johnson) gave every impression that there wasn’t a party. He gave every impression that there was nothing to see here, and now I think it is pretty clear that he misled Parliament. I think it is pretty clear that he misled intentionally.”

       Junior members of staff in Downing Street feel as though they have been “hung out to dry” over partygate, according to the former head of the Civil Service.

       Lord Kerslake told Times Radio: “There is no doubt that senior civil servants, if they are aware of these parties and allowed them to happen, or even participated in them, are responsible and should be held to account.

       “The clear and most significant responsibility lies with the Prime Minister. It is his house, it’s his office. What I pick up is a huge amount of anger amongst the junior staff, who feel they are being hung out to dry.

       “They co-operated with the Sue Gray inquiry; that evidence then went to the police. They have been given fines and they do not feel like they are being properly supported.”

       The publication of the Sue Gray report will clear the path for the House of Commons' Privileges Committee to start its investigation into whether Boris Johnson misled Parliament over partygate.

       George Eustice, the Environment Secretary, was asked this morning if he believes Mr Johnson will have to resign if the committee rules against him.

       Mr Eustice refused to be drawn, telling Sky News: "Let's let the committee do its work. I don't want to get into hypotheticals here. There are lots of parliamentary processes of this sort.

       "He [Mr Johnson] said 'fine, let the committee investigate this, look at it'. But obviously they are going to want to take evidence from him, they are going to want to talk to him and we should let that process run its course and not get ahead of ourselves."

       George Eustice, the Environment Secretary, has insisted Boris Johnson did not knowingly mislead Parliament over partygate.

       Asked if Mr Johnson will stay in post "even though he misled parliament", Mr Eustice told Sky News: "Well, I don't think it is right to make that assertion. Obviously there is a standards and privileges committee that is looking at that particular allegation.

       "Ministers and politicians are not supposed to knowingly mislead Parliament but the Prime Minister himself has also given a very clear account of his own understanding of all of those events that he attended, that he didn't regard them as parties, that he didn't regard them as breaking the rules.

       "He has explained that, that was his understanding and obviously where the police have said there were particular failings on his part, in respect of the birthday party where the cake was brought in, well then he has acknowledged that and he has paid that fixed penalty notice."

       A Cabinet minister has said it is "understandable that people will feel anger" when they see photographs and hear reports of socialising in Downing Street during the pandemic.

       George Eustice, the Environment Secretary, told Sky News: “It’s not just the optics, it’s understandable that people will feel anger because there were instances, yes, where people couldn’t attend funerals of close friends, couldn’t visit loved ones.

       “Of course, we absolutely recognise that, the Prime Minister recognises that, that’s why he has apologised for the failings in No 10 and for his own part in that.”

       George Eustice has suggested a fresh package of support to address the cost of living crisis could be announced within days.

       Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, is thought to be finalising a package which could be unveiled this week as the Government attempts to move on from the partygate row.

       “My understanding is that he (Mr Sunak) is looking at things and we may hear more this week,” the Environment Secretary told LBC Radio.

       Cabinet ministers were yesterday warned not to sign off public sector pay increases that could fuel inflation (you can read the full story here).

       George Eustice, the Environment Secretary, warned this morning that public sector workers should not expect big increases because the current economic circumstances mean there is a need for "pay restraint".

       He told Times Radio: “There is going to have to be, obviously, some pay restraint and when it comes to the public sector right from MPs, right through to doctors and nurses, there are independent pay review panels.

       "They will make their recommendations and obviously we look very closely at that when setting public sector pay.

       “But it is going to be quite important to try and show restraint because if we continue to borrow and spend money as the Labour Party have said they would do, to do that when you are in an inflationary environment could compound the problem and could drive prices higher still.”

       George Eustice has refused to be drawn on whether people in No 10 should lose their jobs over partygate.

       He told Times Radio that Boris Johnson had already made changes to the "structure and how things work" in Downing Street.

       He added: ？“I think the reality is that fixed penalty notices have been issued to those people who the police judged shouldn’t have been at those particular events.

       "Just like the Prime Minister they should pay those fixed penalty notices and we have got to learn from this and make changes to ensure that the culture that allowed that boundary between a drink or a leaving do, a sort of leaving speech at the end of a day in a working environment, allowed that to be blurred to what now looks like parties in some cases. We have just got to make sure that that can’t happen.”

       The publication of the Sue Gray report will inevitably reignite questions about Boris Johnson's future as Tory leader and PM.

       George Eustice, the Environment Secretary, was asked this morning who he believes should "carry the can" for rule-breaking in No 10 and he argued responsibility for failings rested at "many different levels of management".

       He told Times Radio: “Sue Gray highlighted that there is responsibility at many different levels, at many different levels of management and that there were failings of people not to sort of step in and say that this shouldn’t happen.”

       George Eustice, the Environment Secretary, has admitted that the line became "blurred" in No 10 during the pandemic on what was and wasn't acceptable behaviour.

       He told Times Radio: “Clearly what happened in No 10 is a culture developed where they were working there… and there were times when they would have a drink at the end of the day… and that boundary between what was acceptable and what wasn’t got blurred and that was a mistake and Sue Gray highlighted those failings in her first interim report.”

       George Eustice, the Environment Secretary, is on the media round for the Government this morning.

       He said he does not believe that "anything new will come from" the Sue Gray report as he argued that much of the detail about the partygate scandal is already in the public domain.

       He told Times Radio: “I will of course look at the report as everybody will because it is important that we understand what is published there but it is also the case that the Prime Minister has given quite a full account of his understanding of these events.

       “The police have investigated all of these events, they have issued a fixed penalty notice to the Prime Minister in respect of one of those events that he attended, he has paid that penalty, he has apologised, he recognises how people will feel and how angry they will feel about these events and he has levelled with the public about that.

       “I am not sure that anything new will come from this report, other than further detail, but of course we will of course look at it.”

       Downing Street is expecting to receive the Sue Gray report this morning and it will publish it soon after.

       Boris Johnson will then face Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons at noon.

       He is then expected to deliver a formal statement in the Commons this afternoon as he responds to Ms Gray's findings before holding a press conference in the late afternoon.

       The PM will finish his day by addressing the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs.

       Good morning and welcome to today's politics live blog.

       We are expecting the full Sue Gray report into the partygate scandal to be published this morning.

       It is likely to be a dramatic day in Westminster and I will be here to guide you through the key developments.

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