The latest Downing Street party allegations have people worrying about Sue Gray’s workload

On Thursday night, The Telegraph broke the news that two more parties reportedly happened in Downing Street while the rest of the public, simply put, were not allowed to have parties.

The publication revealed the parties took place for two members of staff who were leaving, the day before Prince Philip’s socially distanced funeral, and that staff were sent to the shops to pick up booze in suitcases, music was played and someone even broke poor Wilf Johnson’s swing.

As one, the nation rolled its eyes, incredulous that ongoing ‘partygate’ was creating yet another hangover with the list of events to investigate growing and growing.

Meanwhile, James Slack - a member of staff who one of the parties was held for apologised, while a spokesman for the Prime Minister said Downing Street had said sorry to the Palace following the reports.

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And after people read the details, thoughts turned to Sue Gray, the senior civil servant charged with investigating all these parties, and people thought she must be pretty exhausted indeed:

Gray indeed has a lot on her shoulders. The Metropolitan Police have said they will not investigate any of the Downing Street parties unless and until the Sue Gray inquiry finds evidence of criminality. Every time a journalist tries to get a loyal Tory MP or minister to comment on the matter they have repeated the refrain “we’re waiting for Sue Gray to finish the inquiry”.

The Times also reports it is expected that Gray will conclude that the parties were “not criminal” which is causing some people to raise their eyebrows.

And commenting on the stories, a Downing Street spokesperson said:

“On this individual’s last day he gave a farewell speech to thank each team for the work they had done to support him, both those who had to be in the office for work and on a screen for those working from home.”

Poor Gray. Let’s just hope she has a nice day off planned once this all blows over.