North Somerset's MP does not believe Sue Gray's Partygate report has any evidence to suggest that Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, broke Covid rules more than once.

In a letter to a constituent, Dr Liam Fox claims the senior civil servant's highly anticipated report offered little new information and "nothing, in my view, that showed the Prime Minister had personally broken the Covid 19 rules repeatedly".

Dr Fox's claim came despite Mr Johnson becoming the first sitting Prime Minister to have been found to have broken the law when the Met Police handed him a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) for a gathering on his birthday.

%image(14187845, type="article-full", alt="Boris Johnson was responsible for "failures in leadership" according to the report.")

The letter allegedly reads: "We have now had both the conclusion of the Metropolitan Police investigation and the publication of the Sue Gray report into events in Downing Street.

"A single fixed penalty fine was issued to the Prime Minister. Sir Stephen House, the Metropolitan Police’s acting Commissioner has said that there was no clear evidence that Boris Johnson had breached Covid19 rules many times in Downing Street as had been alleged.

"There was little in the Sue Gray report that was new and nothing, in my view, that showed the Prime Minister had personally broken the Covid-19 rules repeatedly."

Gray, at the request of the Prime Minister, investigated 16 parties alleged to have taken place at the heart of British democracy, Downing Street and Whitehall, during the heights of the Covid pandemic when laws prohibiting gatherings were in place.

The 48-page report, complete with photographs taken from some of the events, accuses Boris Johnson and others in the government of committing "failures of leadership and judgment in No 10 and the Cabinet Office".

The North Somerset MP accepts that these findings have "created dismay and anger among a large part of the British public".

The letter goes on to say: "There has clearly been, however, a culture in Downing Street and the Cabinet office where the strict rules applied to the rest of the population have been interpreted with much greater laxity.

"This has created dismay and anger among a large part of the British public, especially those who made considerable personal sacrifices during the pandemic.

"Having been unable to see my own elderly parents for almost 18 months and spending one Christmas alone in isolation, I can fully understand their feelings.

%image(14187846, type="article-full", alt="Dr Liam Fox MP and Freddie Tall.")

"I do not believe, however, that all this makes the case for the removal of the Prime Minister with all the attendant disruption of government, especially at a time of such international importance, economically and militarily, where Britain’s voice needs to be heard.

"The Committee on Standards will now investigate the outstanding issue of whether the Prime Minister deliberately misled the House of Commons. It is now up to the committee to consider the evidence and bring this matter, finally, to a close."

Dr Fox is referring to the latest investigation the Prime Minister has come under, which will decide whether or not he was honest with fellow MPs regarding comments made about Partygate in the House of Commons.

If found to have misled the House, pressure will continue to mount on Boris Johnson to step aside from his role as Prime Minister.

In total, 126 FPNs were handed out to 83 people for the gatherings mentioned in Sue Gray's report.