THE MP for North Wiltshire has said he will not be calling for Boris Johnson to be sacked following the publication of the Sue Gray report. 

In a lengthy post on his website, James Gray said the anger and grief felt by people who adhered to the lockdown rules, "very often at huge personal anguish while apparently civil servants in No 10 were partying", is perfectly understandable. 

Some aspects of Sue Gray's report are totally unacceptable, he added.

"Drink, vomit, fighting, rudeness to cleaning staff and so on is plainly wholly wrong, and steps have been taken to correct the flawed management structures within Downing Street to make sure that kind of thing can never happen again."

And while he says that he shares the nation's anger over these events, he has "a number of reservations about it all". 

He wrote: "Most of these events - unacceptable as they are- were leaving drinks for massively overworked civil servants. There were no MPs present, apart from the PM looking in to some of them in passing.

"Those who are trying to pretend that these were 'Conservative' events are simply wrong. Very many of the civil servants taking part are doubtless Labour supporters in private. Second, Sue Gray’s final report was very similar to her interim one, and really does not expose any new evidence of serious wrong-doing.

"And third, while the PM has openly admitted that he should not have done so; looking in to a junior staff member’s leaving party, red box in hand en route to his own flat, is hardly a hanging offence".

He said: "Many of the things which are reported were pretty disgraceful, but I am not sure that they merit quite the hysterical over-reaction of some of the observers and critics. Nor do I think that I could justify calling for the PM’s resignation as a result of them".

On whether the Prime Minister knowingly lied to Parliament, which he says would be a resigning matter, he says the Gray report "seems [to him] to back up the PM’s claim that he was not aware of any illegal parties in No 10".

"Innocent until proved otherwise must be the prevailing argument here".

He concludes: "He has got a great many things wrong, and the parties in Downing Steet and associated events are very embarrassing. But they do not, in my view, amount to justification for removal of the PM. He has apologised and lessons have very plainly been learned. Let us leave it there and get on with the real and important business of running the country."

To read his post in full, click here.