Newspaper headlines: PM 'damaged but unbowed' as Gray report criticises No 10 culture

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-61588024

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Thursday's front pages are dominated by the fallout from the publication of Sue Gray's investigation into No 10 parties during lockdown. The i carries a striking photograph of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, putting him at the centre of the scandal as it notes lurid revelations of "vomiting, fighting, partying until 4am plus laughing at security and cleaners".

"Drinking, fights, vomiting: all in a day's work, says PM" is how the Guardian responds to Mr Johnson's claims that he was "oblivious" to the culture of boozing and partying in Downing Street during lockdown, despite Ms Gray's "damning" report suggesting rule-breaking was happening at the heart of government.

The Daily Mirror's front page contrasts a photograph of the Covid memorial wall, which remembers those who died during the pandemic, with an image of Mr Johnson enjoying food and drink at his lockdown birthday event in the cabinet room. It illustrates the paper's point that while the nation was "sacrificing and mourning", Downing Street staff were "drinking until they were sick, laughing at security guards...and cleaners", which the Mirror concludes was them "laughing at us all".

The Metro's front page strikes a similar visual tone, with details of red wine being splattered on the walls of No 10 during a "lockdown-busting booze-up" contrasted with an emotive government advert from the pandemic showing a Covid patient with the caption: "Look her in the eyes and tell her you never bend the rules."

The Daily Star draws a cheeky parallel between the prime minister and an English football fan who was memorably photographed above with a flare, suggesting they both know what it is like to have "bad days at the office".

However, the Daily Mail argues the photos of the prime minister surrounded by "juice and M&S sandwiches" at his cabinet room birthday gathering are "innocuous". It concludes even Mr Johnson's staunchest enemies must now be asking "Is that it?"

Carrying the same photograph of Mr Johnson, the Daily Express indignantly asks "Is this what all the fuss was about?" It says Ms Gray's report "failed to contain any explosive new disclosures about the PM's behaviour".

"The Party(gate) is over", proclaims the front page of the Sun, which appeals directly to the prime minister to move on from the scandal and focus on helping its readers through the "desperate" cost of living crisis.

The Financial Times says the prime minister has been "damaged but unbowed" by Ms Gray's report, pointing out that even Mr Johnson's "fiercest critics" admit the report has "failed to inflict a fatal wound" on him. The FT captures the mood among some Tory MPs, with one quoted as saying: "Most of us are resigned to the fact that he won't be going, but that we've lost the next general election", while another admits the appetite to remove Mr Johnson as prime minister is low.

In other news, the Daily Telegraph leads on a preview of Rishi Sunak's announcement of measures to help families struggling with the cost of living. The chancellor's multibillion-pound support package will include plans to give every household in the country hundreds of pounds off their energy bills this autumn by scrapping a previous plan to make them repay it over five years, the paper reveals. The move - which the paper points out will still be "dwarfed" by the expected rise in energy bills - will be funded by an oil and gas windfall tax.

Government sources have told the Times that under Mr Sunak's "mix-and-match" support deal, the value of the discount on energy bills could be boosted to as much as £400, at a cost of £10bn. But another government source warns the measures will be "temporary and targeted" as ministers want to avoid a big increase in state support for what they see as a "short-term crisis".

In the wake of senior civil servant Sue Gray's report, the Sun has a message for Boris Johnson: To put Partygate behind him and focus on what "really" matters - the terrifying rise in prices.

It says the self-inflicted scandal has been a damaging distraction for months - and it's "vital" the prime minister moves on.

An article featuring a table strewn with packets of sandwiches is accompanied by the headline: "Most criminal thing about this party is that it looks so rubbish."

Other papers supportive of the government have a similar reaction.

The Daily Express's headline reads: "Really... is this what all the fuss is about?"

The paper says that at least £450,000 of taxpayers' cash went into the investigation, adding: "Westminster's witchfinder generals need to ask themselves, what did it really achieve?"

The Daily Mail says that for months Mr Johnson's enemies "salivated at the prospect of Sue Gray skewering him", yet, it says, after the report's photos of him with juice and M&S sandwiches, they must be asking: "Is that it?'

The Guardian's headline, though, is: "Drinking, fights, vomiting: All in a day's work."

Johnson 'defiant'

The Daily Mirror says that "while we were sacrificing and mourning", they were "laughing at security guards, laughing at cleaners, laughing at us all".

The paper quotes what it describes as a "furious" Tory MP, saying "he thinks he's got away with it. But the public who obeyed the rules will not forget this."

The Daily Star, in its editorial, say the prime minister has no shame.

The Times says Mr Johnson was defiant and claims he was "vindicated" - despite what it describes as a damning report that laid bare a culture of rule breaking in Downing Street.

The paper's leader column mocks his explanation that he attended leaving drinks as an essential duty of leadership.

The notion that the essence of leadership in a national emergency is to share the hardships of ordinary citizens appears not to have occurred to him, the paper says.

Again and again, the Times notes, the prime minister evades moral accountability and hides behind legalistic quibbling.

'Unfit to lead'

The Financial Times says Mr Johnson's insistence that he did not knowingly mislead Parliament stretches credulity, and he has shown it the same disrespect as he has the British people. The paper concludes he's "unfit to lead".

The Daily Telegraph says that given the current national and international problems, it is a time for strong leadership and competent government - and Mr Johnson now has to show he can still deliver both.

The Telegraph also focuses on the news that every household in the country is to get an energy rebate, which they won't have to pay back - a policy which it says could help Downing Street shift the focus away from Partygate.

But the paper warns a political challenge will come in selling a windfall tax to cabinet ministers and Tory MPs.

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