Will Boris Johnson accept his fate in the Partygate inquiry? The former Prime Minister considers whether to challenge the findings of the Commons committee report into whether he lied to MPs
- Former PM was sent a draft version of the Commons privileges committee report
- If found guilty, committee has power to recommend suspension from Parliament
Boris Johnson was last night considering whether to challenge the findings of an inquiry into whether he lied over Partygate.
The former prime minister was sent a draft version of the controversial Commons privileges committee report into whether he lied to MPs when he said gatherings in Downing Street did not break lockdown rules.
MPs on the committee were accused of pre-judging the issue after they issued an interim report in March – before taking evidence from Mr Johnson – in which they said it should have been ‘obvious’ to him that rules were being broken.
During a fractious three-hour evidence session later that month he said ‘hand on heart’ he had not lied.
He accused the committee, chaired by Labour’s former deputy leader Harriet Harman, of acting as ‘prosecutor, judge and jury’ against him. Allies of the former PM have branded the 14-month inquiry a ‘witch hunt’.
The former prime minister was sent a draft version of the controversial Commons privileges committee report into whether he lied to MPs when he said gatherings in Downing Street did not break lockdown rules
Johnson accused the committee, chaired by Labour’s former deputy leader Harriet Harman, of acting as ‘prosecutor, judge and jury’ against him
If he is found guilty, the committee has the power to recommend Mr Johnson is suspended from Parliament
Mr Johnson has now been invited to make ‘further submissions’ if he wants to influence the committee’s ‘final conclusion’ later this month.
If he is found guilty, the committee has the power to recommend Mr Johnson is suspended from Parliament. Crucially, a suspension of ten days or more could trigger a by-election in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency.
Allies of the former PM have been increasingly confident that the committee will stop short of imposing the ‘nuclear option’.
However, parliamentary sources confirmed Labour would be able to amend the committee’s recommendation to propose a longer punishment. Mr Johnson’s fate would then rest on whether he could persuade Conservative MPs to back him. Tory sources indicated that Rishi Sunak is wary of ordering his MPs to vote for Mr Johnson, meaning they are likely to be given a free vote.
Former MEP David Campbell Bannerman, a prominent ally of Mr Johnson, warned last night it would ‘end very badly for Boris’s enemies’ in the party if they sided with Labour in a bid to end his parliamentary career.
An MP ally said the Tories would be plunged into ‘civil war’ if Mr Johnson is forced out.
Former MEP David Campbell Bannerman, a prominent ally of Mr Johnson, warned last night it would ‘end very badly for Boris’s enemies’ in the party if they sided with Labour in a bid to end his parliamentary career
Mr Johnson told the committee that his statements to MPs were ‘made in good faith and on the basis of what I honestly knew and believed at the time’
A spokesman for the privileges committee said: ‘The committee is proceeding in accordance with its previously published procedure. Under that procedure, if the committee decides to criticise Mr Johnson, it will not come to a final conclusion until it has taken into account any further submissions from Mr Johnson.
‘The committee will then report to the House in the usual way, and it will be for the House – not the committee – to decide on this matter.’
The seven-strong committee includes four Conservative MPs but is led by Ms Harman, who was given the role despite having publicly criticised Mr Johnson over Partygate.
Mr Johnson told the committee that his statements to MPs were ‘made in good faith and on the basis of what I honestly knew and believed at the time’.
He said he believed all rules were being followed at events he attended himself. And he said senior aides advised him that Covid regulations were observed at all events in No 10.
Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak were both fined £50 over an event in the Cabinet room at which aides briefly gathered between meetings to wish him a happy birthday.
Former aide Cleo Watson, who helped organise the event, last night told Prospect Magazine it was ‘in retrospect, obviously f***ing stupid’.
She said: ‘Everyone worked together, it was just before the next meeting, it was in the day. It seemed… a much greyer area than some things.’
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