Sue Gray has picked up a hammer and has wrought great constitutional damage
SUE Gray has picked up a hammer and smashed the idea of an independent civil service to smithereens.
In one act she has destroyed the trust which allowed ministers to believe that, in spite of their personal views, Whitehall mandarins could be relied upon to be impartial.
Now politicians will always have, at the back of their minds, the fear that the official being confided in and offering advice has a political agenda.
Tory ministers will wonder if there are other socialist sleeper cells waiting to trip them up or to frustrate government policy.
It also brings into question the advice given by Sue Gray over the years, especially as it is now revealed that she has a long-standing friendship with Keir Starmer while her son is buzzing around Uxbridge aiming to defeat Boris Johnson at the next election.
He is not just a foot soldier but a co-ordinator of the campaign.
This invalidates her report into Partygate because she was parti pris.
She took legal advice from a QC, now a KC, who urged people to join the Labour Party and had been abusive to Boris Johnson on Twitter.
Thus, two Labour supporters stood in judgment on Boris Johnson and not surprisingly found him wanting.
Now that the truth is known the report is invalidated and all that flows from it ought to be null and void, especially the Privileges Committee.
It has issued a preliminary report that seems to have decided the matter before hearing all the evidence.
It pretends it does not base its views on the Gray Report but this is not believable.
The constitution is based on trust and Sue Gray has broken it.
She was too senior to have nailed her colours to the socialist mast and she has wrought great constitutional damage.
- Jacob Rees-Mogg is the Conservative MP for North East Somerset and a former Business Secretary.