Comedian Joe Lycett reportedly sparked ‘panic’ among ministers today after his spoof version of the Sue Gray report was mistaken for a ‘serious leak’.
Ministers were left ‘running around panicking’ after the comedian took to social media to share his own version of Ms Gray’s report to the nation, according to a source.
Ms Gray, the second permanent secretary at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, is the senior civil servant tasked with investigating whether several gatherings held at Downing Street were in breach of Covid lockdown rules.
The official inquiry into the ‘partygate row’ is expected to be published this week – having reportedly been delayed last week due to the emergency of new claims – and there is growing nervousness in Downing Street over what it will reveal.
However Lycett today released a parody version of the report containing a mock summary of Ms Gray’s seven main findings – leaving some ministers fearful it was a ‘serious leak’.
Taking to Twitter the comedian wrote: ‘BREAKING: Leaked Sue Gray report reveals shocking abuse of the rules. Hard to see how the PM can cling on after this.’
Taking to his Twitter page Joe Lycett wrote that the ‘leaked Sue Gray report’ revealed the ‘shocking abuse of the rules’
The comedian released the spoof version of the Sue Gray report on his social media
Sue Gray is the senior civil servant tasked with investigating whether several gatherings held at Downing Street were in contravention of Covid lockdown rules
The comedian went on to share a mock summary of the seven main findings found by Ms Gray which highlighted a ‘culture of Covid-19 regulation rule breaking’ at Downing Street.
The mock document read: ‘A summary of my main findings:
‘A culture of Covid-19 regulation rule breaking at Number 10 Downing street.
‘Games were played which were known as ‘Slow Dance’ and ‘Pass the A***hole.
‘A number of WhatsApp groups were established to organise gatherings, with titles including ‘Definitely a meeting’ and ‘Down It Street.
‘At one party, a senior minister insisted all cabinet members get onto a table and perform Pure and Simple by Hear’Say.
‘Before one of the gatherings ********** who worked closely with the PM insisted everyone be tested and was subsequently referred to a ‘T**teral Flow’ by advisors.
‘A video of the PM’s wife at one party confirms her attendance in which she is heard saying ‘it could be as many as few as four and as many as sixty kids’ lol.
‘One advisor insisted this report makes clear ‘it is categorically not a breach of rules to be part of a human centipede if said centipede was formed prior to lockdown’.
‘Please forward any queries to my email address ItsAllSueGravyBaby@aol.com.’
After posting the mocked leak the comedian said he had received a series of messages from a source who worked for a cabinet minister informing him the mock leak had left staff ‘literally running around panicking’.
The source went on to applaud the comedian, adding: ‘Absolutely legendary work, well done’.
Lycett said he had received a series of messages from a source who worked for a cabinet minister informing him the mock leak had left staff ‘literally running around panicking’
Social media users took to Twitter to share their amusement, with one telling the comedian: ‘Your work here is done’
This month Boris Johnson denied Dominic Cummings’ claim that he lied to Parliament over whether he was warned about the potential lockdown breach in advance
Following the spoof partygate report, social media users took to Twitter to share their amusement.
One person wrote: ‘To be fair it was completely believable until the email address.’
While another social media user added: ‘You know you’ve made it when you cause a small political panic over a joke.’
Another person commented: ‘Pure and simple, wait till they start with S Club.’
Earlier this month Dominic Cummings insisted the PM was ‘destroying his own support’ after he complained that ‘nobody told me’ a ‘BYOB’ bash in the Downing Street garden in May 2020 was not a work event.
As he desperately tries to defuse the crisis, Mr Johnson flatly denied Mr Cummings’ claim that he lied to Parliament over whether he was warned about the potential lockdown breach in advance.
Asked if he had lied, Mr Johnson said: ‘No.
‘I want to begin by repeating my apologies to everybody for the misjudgments that I’ve made, that we may have made in No10 and beyond, whether in Downing Street or throughout the pandemic.
‘Nobody told me that what we were doing was against the rules, that the event in question was something that … was not a work event, and as I said in the House of Commons when I went out into that garden I thought that I was attending a work event.’
The comments came as Rishi Sunak walked out of an interview while being grilled about the partygate furore and whether he ‘unequivocally’ backed the PM.
Pushed on whether he believed the premier’s denials that he knew a ‘BYOB’ gathering in Downing Street in May 2020 was a social event, Mr Sunak said: ‘Of course I do.’
But he ‘referred’ people to Mr Johnson’s own words when pressed on the details, and challenged on whether Mr Johnson would have to quit if he knowingly misled parliament he said: ‘The ministerial code is clear on these matters.’
In 2020, Lycett legally changed his name to Hugo Boss in protest at the company for targeting small businesses and charities who use the word ‘boss’ in their name.
The comedian made the announcement on his Twitter and posted a letter showing he had changed his name by deed poll.
In a post he said: ‘So @HUGOBOSS who turnover approx $2.7 billion a year) have sent cease & desist letters to a number of small businesses & charities who use the word ‘BOSS’ or similar, including a small brewery in Swansea costing them thousands in legal fees and rebranding.’
In a follow up tweet he said: ‘It’s clear that @HUGOBOSS HATES people using their name.
‘Unfortunately for them this week I legally changed my name by deed poll and I am now officially known as Hugo Boss.
‘All future statements from me are not from Joe Lycett but from Hugo Boss. Enjoy.’
The spoof report shared by comedian Joe Lycett
The spoof report summarised the seven main findings of the investigation
The mock document read: ‘A summary of my main findings:
‘A culture of Covid-19 regulation rule breaking at Number 10 Downing street.
‘Games were played which were known as ‘Slow Dance’ and ‘Pass the A***hole.
‘A number of WhatsApp groups were established to organise gatherings, with titles including ‘Definitely a meeting’ and ‘Down It Street.
‘At one party, a senior minister insisted all cabinet members get onto a table and perform Pure and Simple by Hear’Say.
‘Before one of the gatherings ********** who worked closely with the PM insisted everyone be tested and was subsequently referred to a ‘T**teral Flow’ by advisors.
‘A video of the PM’s wife at one party confirms her attendance in which she is heard saying ‘it could be as many as few as four and as many as sixty kids’ lol.
‘One advisor insisted this report makes clear ‘it is categorically not a breach of rules to be part of a human centipede if said centipede was formed prior to lockdown’.
‘Please forward any queries to my email address ItsAllSueGravyBaby@aol.com.’
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