London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Oct 06, 2025

Johnson must act on Gray report’s whistleblower proposals, say Lib Dems

Johnson must act on Gray report’s whistleblower proposals, say Lib Dems

Ed Davey says PM should make it easier for No 10 officials to raise concerns about wrongdoing at work
Boris Johnson should act immediately on Sue Gray’s recommendation to help whistleblowers raise concerns about wrongdoing, the Liberal Democrats have said, arguing the prime minister is “picking and choosing” which parts of her report to implement.

Ed Davey, the party’s leader, has written to Johnson calling for action over what he called “staggering failures” in helping officials to challenge misconduct, and seeking details on how often staff had expressed worries about lockdown gatherings.

The interim report by Gray, a senior civil servant, into alleged breaches of Covid rules inside Downing Street and elsewhere in government withheld most details due to a continuing police investigation into potential lawbreaking.

However, it condemned “failures of leadership and judgment”, and also warned that some staff had “wanted to raise concerns about behaviours they witnessed at work but at times felt unable to do so”.

Gray recommended: “There should be easier ways for staff to raise such concerns informally, outside of the line management chain.”

While Johnson has apologised for the failings, and has since significantly shaken up his senior No 10 team, Davey said there was as yet no evidence of action being taken to help would-be whistleblowers.

Boris Johnson stood up in parliament and committed to accepting Sue Gray’s findings in full,” Davey said. “But since then he has been picking and choosing what to implement, focusing on strengthening his position instead of preventing future law-breaking in No 10.”

Using a parliamentary question, the party asked the Cabinet Office, which works closely alongside Downing Street, and which was connected to some claims of social gatherings, what whistleblowing guidance it had in place.

The response said that “if individuals suspect wrongdoing, they have a responsibility to speak up”, stressing that this included potentially illegal actions.

In his letter to Johnson, Davey said: “Reading this guidance, it is quite clear that there have been staggering failures in regards to the whistleblowing policy at the top of government. Either staff simply felt unable to raise concerns about continued social gatherings in Downing Street and the Cabinet Office, or their concerns were ignored by senior management.”

Davey said that despite the reorganisation there had been no information on how to assist staff in raising worries: “It is extremely concerning that your response to this highly critical interim report has been to make changes which benefit you, rather than make it easier for your staff to report potentially criminal activity in future.”

He asked Johnson to outline how many concerns about the social gatherings were raised, whether there were any consequences for whistleblowers, and to instruct Samantha Jones, the newly appointed permanent secretary of the new Office of the Prime Minister, to update the whistleblowing policy in Downing Street and the Cabinet Office “as a matter of priority”.

“For the good of the country and for the sake of our national security, we need a culture in No 10 and the Cabinet Office which welcomes staff who blow the whistle – not one in which staff feel unable to speak up,” Davey wrote. “As prime minister, it is incumbent on you to understand the gravity of these concerns and urgently resolve the real problems which Sue Gray has outlined.”

A Downing Street spokesperson said: “We are making immediate changes to No 10 to address the issues identified in the Sue Gray report.

“This week we appointed a permanent secretary to lead the new Office for the Prime Minister. She will be reviewing the structures and operations in place to improve No 10 and ensure the team are supported to deliver on the prime minister’s agenda.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
×