London, May 25 (PTI) The long-anticipated partygate report into law-breaking parties at the British Prime Minister's Downing Street office-residence in London, compiled by a senior civil servant and released on Wednesday, is scathing in its criticism of senior leadership for a rule-breaking culture.

Sue Gray's report declares that many of the events she looked into "should not have been allowed to happen" and that the “senior leadership at the centre, both political and official, must bear responsibility for this culture”.

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In the conclusion of her report which had been published in an interim form earlier, Gray says her initial findings blaming a "failure of leadership" for the parties in Downing Street "still stand".

"Whatever the initial intent, what took place at many of these gatherings and the way in which they developed was not in line with COVID guidance at the time,” said the Second Permanent Secretary in the Cabinet Office.

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"Even allowing for the extraordinary pressures officials and advisers were under, the factual findings of this report illustrate some attitudes and behaviours inconsistent with that guidance,” she said.

She notes that the ensuing police investigation shows "a large number of individuals" were involved.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was preparing for the release of the report and will make a statement in the House of Commons later on Wednesday.

Gray's interim report, critical of leadership failures, had triggered a police investigation under Scotland Yard's Operation Hillman. That investigation concluded last week with 83 individuals being issued with a total of 126 fines for breach of coronavirus lockdown rules within UK government quarters, including one each for Johnson, wife Carrie and UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak. It cleared the decks for the original Sue Gray report to be published in full, which is expected to be first handed over to Downing Street before Johnson addresses Parliament over its findings.

"It's not just the optics, it's understandable that people will feel anger because there were instances where people couldn't attend funerals of close friends, couldn't visit loved ones," UK Environment Secretary George Eustice told the BBC, with reference to the breaches. As well as his appearance in the House of Commons, Boris Johnson is also set to face a tough meeting of the powerful Tory backbench 1922 committee. After an initial uproar over partygate, most of his party MPs have fallen behind the party line against the backdrop of a soaring cost of living crisis and Russia-Ukraine conflict.

However, the issue has been reignited as the BBC's ‘Panorama' programme aired footage of Downing Street insiders speaking anonymously of a boozy culture throughout the lockdown.

Three “insiders” told the documentary of chaotic, crowded gatherings at the heart of government in which people sat on others' laps in complete disregard of the social distancing rules and rooms were left strewn with bottles of alcohol. One of the BBC's sources said they felt such "parties" were licensed by the UK Prime Minister as he was there and did not demand it be shut down.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan is among Opposition Labour leaders calling for an explanation from the Metropolitan Police why the UK Prime Minister was only fined for a birthday party in June 2020 and not handed a second fine for another party after pictures emerged of him holding up a glass at a farewell drinks party on November 13, 2020. The rules in force at the time banned indoor gatherings of two or more people, except if "reasonably necessary" for work purposes.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)