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Sue Gray: ‘Verified’ Conservative politician claims Joe Lycett’s joke report was ‘read as serious leak’

‘Mummy catfished the government,’ comedian wrote

Jacob Stolworthy
Friday 28 January 2022 08:32 GMT
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A person claiming to be a Conservative Party member has said that Joe Lycett’s joke version of Sue Gray’s report was “read as an actual serious leak”.

The comedian posted a joke version of the senior civil servant’s report into her findings about the Downing Street parties that allegedly occurred during Covid-19 lockdown.

If the alleged party member is to be believed, the mock summary, which was posted on Thursday (27 January), caused a stir among the Tories.

On Instagram, Lycett shared a message he received from someone he said is a “verified” employee of a Conservative cabinet minister.

It read: “I work in parliament for the Conservatives and I think u need to know your tweet this morning was read as an actual serious leak from Sue Gray's report [sic]. U had MP staff literally running around panicking from what it said. Panic dialling MPs like we need to discuss this right now. [sic]”

The UK is awaiting the the publishing of the findings, which were approved by the police on Tuesday (25 January).

However, publication has since been delayed amid reports that the report is being subjected to a last-minute “legal scrubbing”.

You can read Lycett’s full mock report here.

In response to the messages, Lycett wrote: “This is an actual series of messages I have received from someone who works for a cabinet minister. Source is verified. Mummy catfished the government.”

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