[davidjay]

Fair play to him; the way Starmer got the Prime Minister to appoint his mate took some doing.

[Spoonman]

Fair play to him; the way Starmer got the Prime Minister to appoint his mate took some doing.

It was Starmer that forced Johnson to attend that party.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Starmer baked the cake.

[Youngian]

Jacqui “I’ve had with this shit” Smith also points out that moving from top grade civil servant to a precarious nebulous role of a political chief of staff is not a cushy step up in your career.

If ideology, ambition or money has driven Gray’s decision to help the former DPP to become PM, than the Tories can breathe a sigh of relief. Or are they coming to drain the swamp?

[Bones McCoy]

Owning the Con's.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Per Nick Watt, Labour are exceedingly comfortable with the focus returning to Partygate.

I think they’re right. “Lefty Remainer Civil Service” is Tory Press and GB News stuff. It’s not particularly Rishi Sunak stuff.

[Youngian]

I’ll credit Sunak with enough sense to have let this Sue Gray appointment slide. But the Boris Barmy Army can’t help themselves and have put Partygate back out there. There’s now a ludicrous conspiracy entry from the comrades that Gray was undercover for MI5 spying on the IRA. Sue Gray, secret agent isn’t going to lose Keir many votes.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Is there a PMQs in this?

Lots of the stuff from Bozo MPs seems close to actionable. Would the Prime Minister like to condemn the remarks?

[Andy McDandy]

Johnson knows enough about libel law to skirt the issue. Hence all the "I'll leave it to others to make their judgements..." nudge nudge stuff.

Some of his fan club, maybe not so much. Someone will fuck up soon.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Sue Grey won’t sue though. Discovery means the Mail gets to read every one of her text messages and emails for a year.

[Andy McDandy]

Keep an eye on how fast the line changes from "You can't trust SG, it was a Labour plot all along" to "It was a long time ago, who cares, can't we all move on?".

I suspect it'll be faster than Johnson might have liked.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

I'm already seeing that on Facebook...

[Andy McDandy]

I've seen a few people say that she can't take the job, not because of Partygate, but because of her role as head of the cabinet ethics team. That, I suspect, is the real Tory fear - what dirt has she got on everyone?

It also reveals something about their attitude to propriety and keeping confidences, similar to what we saw with Oakshitt. They're for other people.

[kreuzberger]

Oh, how I wish Sue Gray was really named "Sue Decidedly-Brown."

The pink mist on the right would be a joy to behold.

[Youngian]

Keep an eye on how fast the line changes from "You can't trust SG, it was a Labour plot all along" to "It was a long time ago, who cares, can't we all move on?".

I suspect it'll be faster than Johnson might have liked.

Starmer conned the PM into appointing a Labour plant to investigate himself, hasn’t got legs. As for moving on, all Labour did was announce Sue Gray’s appointment. Of course there’s an element of mischief and the Tories couldn’t help themselves rising to it. Keir’s voodoo at play again or is it more Tory stupidity?

[Tubby Isaacs]

Sunak’s not rising to it. He’s sharper than I first thought he was.

ACOBA is chaired by Eric Pickles but it’s also got Larry Whitty on plus some non politicos, so probably unlikely to impose more than 3 month delay, per Bob Kerslake.

Sunak might block it at the last minute, like he did with the GRR bill, I suppose.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Saw someone today saying this was all a mistake because it shows Labour up to be “establishment”. The party led by the Goldman Sachs ex Winchester head boy might struggle to capitalise, one might have thought.

Anyway, Sir Keir and Sue Grey earned their establishment credentials. It’s not like we’re talking about Prince Edward and the Duchess of Westminster.

[Bones McCoy]

Keep an eye on how fast the line changes from "You can't trust SG, it was a Labour plot all along" to "It was a long time ago, who cares, can't we all move on?".

I suspect it'll be faster than Johnson might have liked.

Starmer conned the PM into appointing a Labour plant to investigate himself, hasn’t got legs. As for moving on, all Labour did was announce Sue Gray’s appointment. Of course there’s an element of mischief and the Tories couldn’t help themselves rising to it. Keir’s voodoo at play again or is it more Tory stupidity?

Starmer beats Cummings at 8 dimensional chess...

[Watchman]

Can’t see Sunak getting too involved, would look like he was still dancing to de Piffles’s tune

[The Weeping Angel]