Boris Johnson boosted by Gray report delay

Boris Johnson’s battle to remain in office has been reinforced by further delays to the publication of Sue Gray’s report into Covid-19 lockdown breaches at Number 10.

The senior civil servant’s report into rule-breaking Downing Street parties will now probably not be published until Monday at the earliest, giving the British prime minister vital breathing space.

A police statement on Friday raised the prospect of a watered-down version of the report emerging to the public. It revealed discussions between the Cabinet Office and detectives over what can be published by the civil service.

The police want to “avoid any prejudice” to the criminal probe, the statement said.

“For the events the Met is investigating, we asked for minimal reference to be made in the Cabinet Office report,” the police said. “The Met did not ask for any limitations 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.”

Catherine Roper, who is leading the investigation with the Met's Specialist Crime Command, said the inquiry would be undertaken "without fear or favour" and would follow normal processes.

She also denied that the delays to the release were politically motivated, despite allegations to the contrary by some of Mr Johnson's opponents.

It is also understood the document is being examined by both lawyers and human resource managers to ensure it does not hinder the police investigation or cause undue difficulties for those who are brought into the public spotlight. Whitehall officials have confirmed a number of senior civil servants and political advisers will be named with possible censure attached.

Once the report is published, it could go a long way to determining Mr Johnson’s political future as leader.

Ms Gray was expected to issue her findings as early as Tuesday this week, but the last-minute intervention by the Metropolitan Police to investigate her findings with a view to possible criminal prosecution on the same day has caused further delay.

In politics momentum is everything, and the pause has bought crucial time for Mr Johnson to restore his authority, just as it was slipping away.

Mr Johnson during a visit to north Wales, some distance from the challenges facing him in Westminster. Reuters

It has also given space for his shadow whipping operation to take effect, as senior Conservatives persuade colleagues to curb their rebellion against Mr Johnson.

The prime minister has also held an estimated 30 meetings with wavering MPs over the past week, cajoling them to come back onside.

This culminated in one of the strongest House of Commons appearances in months by Mr Johnson during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, when Conservative MPs roared their support.

But with the leader’s diary crammed by MP meetings and visits around the country to distance him from Westminster — on Thursday he was on a mountain in north Wales — there are growing accusations Whitehall is not functioning properly.

Mr Johnson will happily shoulder accusations of running a “zombie government” if he manages to tip-toe past what will be a very challenging period next week — if the Gray report is finally published on Monday or Tuesday, or later.

While the report will inevitably be highly critical of the Downing Street parties held in breach of lockdown rules, it is unclear how much personal condemnation will fall at Mr Johnson’s feet.

If he avoids accusations of lying or misleading the House of Commons, then it is unlikely the 54 letters of no confidence required for a leadership vote will be delivered.

But if he cannot avoid those accusations and the letters arrive, he will face a potentially politically-fatal leadership challenge.

Some MP supporters suggested on Thursday he could win up to 300 of the 359 Conservative MP votes, but other detractors put his support at 200. If it falls below the latter number — the same figure that Theresa May only just achieved in the 2018 challenge to her leadership — then it would almost certainly signal a collapse in support for his premiership.

That would trigger a Conservative leadership election, with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Chancellor Rishi Sunak considered the front-runners.

But the excitement of rebellion, defections and leadership contests has largely tapered off as parliament on Thursday was a more sombre place on Holocaust Memorial Day.

It was a time to remember “the strength and resilience of the Jewish people in confronting the Holocaust”, said one Labour MP during a commemoration speech, her words providing a sense of perspective to the drama that has gripped Westminster for the past week.

Mobile phone packages comparison

Notable groups (UAE time)

Jordan Spieth, Si Woo Kim, Henrik Stenson (12.47pm)

Justin Thomas, Justin Rose, Louis Oosthuizen (12.58pm)

Hideki Matsuyama, Brooks Koepka, Tommy Fleetwood (1.09pm)

Sergio Garcia, Jason Day, Zach Johnson (4.04pm)

Rickie Fowler, Paul Casey, Adam Scott (4.26pm)

Dustin Johnson, Charl Schwartzel, Rory McIlroy (5.48pm)

Basquiat in Abu Dhabi

One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.

The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier.

It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.

“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.

Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October

UAE v IRELAND

All matches start at 10am, and will be played in Abu Dhabi

1st ODI, Friday, January 8

2nd ODI, Sunday, January 10

3rd ODI, Tuesday, January 12

4th ODI, Thursday, January 14

UAE currency

Mubalada World Tennis Championship 2018 schedule

Thursday December 27

Men's quarter-finals

Kevin Anderson v Hyeon Chung 4pm

Dominic Thiem v Karen Khachanov 6pm

Women's exhibition

Serena Williams v Venus Williams 8pm

Friday December 28

5th place play-off 3pm

Men's semi-finals

Rafael Nadal v Anderson/Chung 5pm

Novak Djokovic v Thiem/Khachanov 7pm

Saturday December 29

3rd place play-off 5pm

Men's final 7pm

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While you're here

The National editorial: Turkey's soft power weighs heavy on Europe's Muslims

Con Coughlin: How extremists use Zoom and other tools to exploit pandemic

Nicky Harley: Peace TV preacher Zakir Naik prompts UK hate laws review

Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme

Priority access to new homes from participating developers
Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
Flexible payment plans from developers
Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates

Western Region Asia Cup T20 Qualifier

Sun Feb 23 – Thu Feb 27, Al Amerat, Oman

The two finalists advance to the Asia qualifier in Malaysia in August

Group A

Bahrain, Maldives, Oman, Qatar

Group B

UAE, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia

UAE group fixtures

Sunday Feb 23, 9.30am, v Iran

Monday Feb 25, 1pm, v Kuwait

Tuesday Feb 26, 9.30am, v Saudi

UAE squad

Ahmed Raza, Rohan Mustafa, Alishan Sharafu, Ansh Tandon, Vriitya Aravind, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmed, Karthik Meiyappan, Basil Hameed, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Ayaz, Zahoor Khan, Chirag Suri, Sultan Ahmed

While you're here

Watch: Davos 2021 panel discusses the future of work for women

Alice Haine: Investing in gender parity 'makes good business sense'

Kareem Shaheen: How the pandemic could set Arab women back

Simon Rushton: Home schooling forces UK mothers to quit jobs

While you're here

Bryant Harris: What Joe Biden did during his first week as US President

Kareem Shaheen: Omar Alghabra outshines the racists who malign him

Kareem Shaheen: Canada is failing those who bear its greatest Covid-19 burdens

CHELSEA SQUAD

Arrizabalaga, Bettinelli, Rudiger, Christensen, Silva, Chalobah, Sarr, Azpilicueta, James, Kenedy, Alonso, Jorginho, Kante, Kovacic, Saul, Barkley, Ziyech, Pulisic, Mount, Hudson-Odoi, Werner, Havertz, Lukaku.

Silent Hill f

Publisher: Konami

Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC

Rating: 4.5/5

EA Sports FC 26

Publisher: EA Sports

Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S

Rating: 3/5

The Uefa Awards winners

Uefa Men's Player of the Year: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

Uefa Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze (Lyon)

Best players of the 2018/19 Uefa Champions League

Goalkeeper: Alisson (Liverpool)

Defender: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

Midfielder: Frenkie de Jong (Ajax)

Forward: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

Uefa President's Award: Eric Cantona

Results:

CSIL 2-star 145cm One Round with Jump-Off

1. Alice Debany Clero (USA) on Amareusa S 38.83 seconds

2. Anikka Sande (NOR) For Cash 2 39.09

3. Georgia Tame (GBR) Cash Up 39.42

4. Nadia Taryam (UAE) Askaria 3 39.63

5. Miriam Schneider (GER) Fidelius G 47.74

Yahya Al Ghassani's bio

Date of birth: April 18, 1998

Playing position: Winger

Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda

Skoda Superb Specs

Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol

Power: 190hp

Torque: 320Nm

Price: From Dh147,000

Available: Now

Company Profile

Name: JustClean

Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries

Launch year: 2016

Number of employees: 130

Sector: online laundry service

Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding

Recipes to try

Zatar chicken from the kitchen star Dalia Dogmoch Soubra

Oatcakes with lemon and zatar

While you're here

Taylor Heyman: Japan's recovery from 2011 tsunami: before and after - in pictures

Lady Gaga sends message of support on 10th anniversary of triple disaster

Richard Smith: Japan now at a crossroads over energy direction

CHELSEA'S NEXT FIVE GAMES

Mar 10: Norwich(A)

Mar 13: Newcastle(H)

Mar 16: Lille(A)

Mar 19: Middlesbrough(A)

Apr 2: Brentford(H)

Whiile you're here

Damien McElroy: Anti-science attitudes in America are proving lethal

Editorial: What makes the UAE such a good place to test vaccines?

Editorial: The fight against Covid-19 should be guided by science

Kareem Shaheen on Canada

A second lockdown will be especially tough in cold countries

Hard-hit Canada is springing back to the cliched 'new normal'

Justin Trudeau 2.0 will need to take all of Canada with him

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

While you're here

Damien McElroy: Lockdowns will further widen the political divisions in the West

Daniel Bardsley: The ancient origins of vaccines, and the anti-vaxxer movement

Justin Thomas: We're en route to a vaccine. Now we just need people to take it

Bullet%20Train

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Key findings of Jenkins report

Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."

More from Rashmee Roshan Lall

US VP candidate Kamala Harris and the complexity of racial identity

Beirut blasts: What do we do with the world's ammonium nitrate?

How the pandemic is testing the solidarity of the European Union

When it comes to peace, is the EU really a great power?

Saudi National Day

Why the UAE has many reasons to celebrate its closest friend and ally

Our commentary on Brexit

Con Coughlin: Choice of the British people will be vindicated
Sam Williams: Departure is influenced by its sense of place

If you go

The flights

There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.

The trip

Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.

The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.

GOLF’S RAHMBO

- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)