The Metropolitan Police has told Sue Gray to make “minimal reference” to potentially lawbreaking No 10 parties in her report, the force has confirmed.
In a statement released on Friday morning the Met said that “for the events the Met is investigating, we asked for minimal reference to be made in the Cabinet Office report”.
It comes after an unexpected delay to the release of the much-awaited internal probe into events at Downing Street, reportedly due to a “legal scrubbing” process.
Scotland Yard, which is running a parallel criminal investigation into some of the more potentially egregious events, added that it “did not ask for limitation on other events in the report, or for the report to be delayed, but we have had ongoing contact with the Cabinet Office, including on the content of the report”.
The statement said the requests for some details to be left out had been “to avoid prejudice to our investigation”.
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Boris Johnson continues to anxiously await Ms Gray’s report, which could trigger a vote of no confidence in his leadership by Conservative MPs angered over alleged breaches of lockdown rules.
But MPs waiting for the report’s publication before launching a bid to remove the PM may have their plan derailed if it emerges with its most potentially damaging findings removed.
Downing Street confirmed on Friday morning that it had not yet received the report, which may not be released until next week.
UK news in pictures Show all 50
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UK news in pictures 27 January 2022 A rare six-week-old southern white rhino calf called Zawadi, explores her paddock for the first time at Africa Alive! in Lowestoft
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UK news in pictures 26 January 2022 British Prime Minister Boris Johnson jogs with his dog Dilyn, in London
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UK news in pictures 25 January 2022 A member of staff looks at Francis Bacon’s work ‘Second Version of Triptych 1944’ on display in the Francis Bacon: Man and Beast exhibition at the the Royal Academy of Arts in London
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UK news in pictures 24 January 2022 Rowers (front to back) Charlotte Irving, Kat Cordiner and Abby Johnston, on their way to shatter the world record for rowing across the Atlantic
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UK news in pictures 23 January 2022 A grey seal pup on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, as the pupping season draws to a close at one of the UK’s most important sites for the mammals
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UK news in pictures 22 January 2022 Participants prepare to take part in the Crisis icebreaker cold water challenge at Tooting Bec Lido in London
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UK news in pictures 21 January 2022 Willesborough Windmill, a white smock mill built in 1869 is bathed in the morning sunshine as the moon sets behind in Ashford, Kent
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UK news in pictures 20 January 2022 A jet skier jumps the waves off the coast at Blyth in Northumberland
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UK news in pictures 19 January 2022 Britain’s Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, participate in a therapy session with individuals who have experienced the care system, during a visit to the Foundling Museum in London
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UK news in pictures 18 January 2022 Surfers enter the sea as the sun rises over Tynemouth on the North East coast
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UK news in pictures 17 January 2022 Bonhams’ Danny McIlwraith holds a Nigerian polycrome carved wood mask during a photocall for the sale of the Jim Lennon Collection at Bonhams in Edinburgh
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UK news in pictures 16 January 2022 The moon rises above the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth, Hampshire
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UK news in pictures 15 January 2022 Demonstrators outside Downing Street during a ‘Kill The Bill’ protest against The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill in London
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UK news in pictures 14 January 2022 Ecologist Emma Smart (left) and retired GP Dr Diana Warner outside HMP Bronzefield, in Surrey, following their release from the prison where Emma undertook a 26-day hunger strike during her incarceration. Ms Smart was sentenced in November, along with other members of Insulate Britain, to serve four months for breaking a High Court injunction by taking part in a blockade at junction 25 of the M25 motorway during the morning rush hour on 8 October last year
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UK news in pictures 13 January 2022 A TV presenter holds a copy of a newspaper outside 10 Downing Streetafter the Prime Minister apologised for attending a gathering of colleagues in the Number Ten garden in May 2020, while the UK was in strict lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic
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UK news in pictures 12 January 2022 Fitness guru Derrick Evans after receiving an MBE during an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle
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UK news in pictures 11 January 2022 A couple walk underneath an umbrella during wet weather on Westminster Bridge in central London
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UK news in pictures 10 January 2022 A jogger passes the Covid Memorial Wall in London
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UK news in pictures 9 January 2021 The sun rises over horses at Seaton Sluice in Northumberland
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UK news in pictures 8 January 2022 Riders compete during the Veterans Men's race at the UK Cyclo-Cross National Championships 2022 in Ardingly, south of London
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UK news in pictures 7 January 2022 A dog looks out of a car window at the wintry conditions in Killeshin, Co. Laois
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UK news in pictures 6 January 2022 People walk through frost and mist alongside a frozen lake during sunrise in Bushy Park, London
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UK news in pictures 5 January 2022 A skier jumps on the slopes at Allenheads in the Pennines to the north of Weardale in Northumberland
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UK news in pictures 4 January 2022 Freshly-fallen snow covers houses in Corbridge, near Hexham in Northumberland
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UK news in pictures 3 January 2022 Dean Morrison, 13, receives his Covid-19 vaccine from student nurse Anthony McLaughlin during a vaccination clinic at the Glasgow Central Mosque
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UK news in pictures 2 January 2022 Konastantinos Tsimikas of Liverpool with Chelsea’s Mason Mount during the Premier League match at Stamfrod Bridge
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UK news in pictures 1 January 2022 New Year’s Eve Lasers, drones and fireworks illuminate the sky in front of the Royal Naval College in Greenwich shortly after midnight in London
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UK news in pictures 31 December 2021 Competitors in fancy dress run across the Pennine tops near Haworth, West Yorkshire, in the annual Auld Lang Syne Fell race which attracts hundreds of runners every year
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UK news in pictures 30 December 2021 Sunrise at Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland
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UK news in pictures 29 December 2021 The Very Revd Dr Robert Willis, Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, looks at Becket, a six month old red-billed chough as he visits Wildwood Wildlife Park in Kent on the anniversary of the murder of Thomas Becket
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UK news in pictures 28 December 2021 Troops of the Household Cavalry are seen reflected in a puddle during the changing of the Queen’s Life Guard, on Horse Guards Parade, in central London
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UK news in pictures 27 December 2021 A pedestrian walks past a winter sale sign outside a John Lewis store on Oxford street in London
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UK news in pictures 26 December 2021 Riders take their bikes through the snow near Castleside, County Durham
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UK news in pictures 25 December 2021 Patrick Corkery wears a santa hat and beard as waves crash over him at Forty Foot near Dublin during a Christmas Day dip
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UK news in pictures 24 December 2021 People stand inside Kings Cross Station on Christmas Eve in London
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UK news in pictures 23 December 2021 Christmas shoppers fill the car park at Fosse Shopping Park in Leicester
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UK news in pictures 22 December 2021 The sun rises behind the stones as people gather for the winter solstice at Stonehenge.
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UK news in pictures 21 December 2021 People take part in a winter solstice swim at Portobello Beach in Edinburgh to mark the solstice and to witness the dawn after the longest night of the year
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UK news in pictures 20 December 2021 An auction employee displays poultry to buyers and sellers attending the Christmas Poultry Sale at York Auction Centre in Murton
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UK news in pictures 19 December 2021 Joao Moutinho of Wolverhampton Wanderers looks on during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea at Molineux
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UK news in pictures 18 December 2021 Freight lorries queuing at the port of Dover in Kent
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UK news in pictures 17 December 2021 Newly elected Liberal Democrat MP Helen Morgan, bursts 'Boris' bubble' held by colleague Tim Farron, as she celebrates following her victory in the North Shropshire by-election
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UK news in pictures 16 December 2021 Brussels sprouts are harvested by workers as they prepare for the busy Christmas period near Boston in Lincolnshire
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UK news in pictures 15 December 2021 Lewis Hamilton is made a Knight Bachelor by the Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle
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UK news in pictures 14 December 2021 The Royal Liver Buildings surrounded by early morning fog in Liverpool
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UK news in pictures 13 December 2021 People queue outside a walk-in Covid-19 vaccination centre at St Thomas's Hospital in Westminster
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UK news in pictures 12 December 2021 People take part in the Big Leeds Santa Dash in Roundhay Park, Leeds
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UK news in pictures 11 December 2021 People arrive at a Covid-19 vaccination centre at Elland Road in Leeds,
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UK news in pictures 10 December 2021 Stella Moris speaks to the media after the US Government won its High Court bid to overturn a judge’s decision not to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
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UK news in pictures 9 December 2021 Camels are lead around Salisbury Cathedral during a rehearsal for the Christmas Eve Service
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Sources close to the Sue Gray inquiry have previously indicated that the civil service investigator was concerned about the prospect of releasing a report that did not include all of its key findings.
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Met Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick announced that a criminal investigation had been launched on Tuesday, after weeks of calls for one.
Officers have not confirmed how many events they are investigating, but reports have suggested the number could be as high as eight.