oris Johnson committed “repeated contempts” of Parliament by deliberately misleading MPs with his partygate denials before being complicit in a campaign of abuse and intimidation, a cross-party investigation found on Thursday.
Branding him the first former prime minister to have ever lied to the Commons, the Privileges Committee recommended a 90-day suspension which would have paved the way for a by-election if he had not quit in anticipation.
His resignation means he will escape that punishment but the committee recommended that he should not receive the pass granting access to Parliament which is normally given to former MPs.
The former Conservative leader hit out at what he called a “deranged conclusion”, accusing the Tory-majority group of MPs led by Labour veteran Harriet Harman, who he has repeatedly sought to disparage, of lying.
Mr Johnson called the committee “beneath contempt” and claimed its 14-month investigation had delivered “what is intended to be the final knife-thrust in a protracted political assassination”.
They found the former prime minister had committed a “serious contempt” for “deliberately misleading” MPs by insisting all rules had been followed in Downing Street despite lockdown-breaching parties.
The MPs had provisionally agreed a suspension long enough to potentially trigger a by-election before Mr Johnson resigned in protest at the findings, attacking the committee as a “kangaroo court”.
But they said he committed further contempts by undermining the democratic processes of the Commons and being “complicit in the campaign of abuse and attempted intimidation of the committee”.
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Scotland’s First Minister says Boris Johnson ‘betrayed people of UK’
Scotland’s First Minister has accused Boris Johnson of “betraying the people of the UK” after the release of the Partygate report.
Humza Yousaf sought to use the committee’s findings as ammunition to attack the Scottish Conservatives’ leader Douglas Ross during First Minister’s Questions on Thursday.
He said: “When they couldn’t visit a loved one, when they couldn’t attend funerals of loved ones, Boris Johnson was breaking the rules and having parties in Number 10.
“Douglas Ross can try to deflect, he can try to dodge, but of course nobody in this country can forget that Douglas Ross backed Boris Johnson to the very hilt.”
Mr Ross was criticised for his shifting position on the former prime minister, after he was one of the first senior members of the party to call for him to quit over partygate before walking back the call because of the invasion of Ukraine.
He eventually voted against Mr Johnson in a confidence vote last June, which precipitated his leaving office the following month.
‘History will look more kindly on Boris Johnson,’ claims ally
More allies of Boris Johnson have come forward to criticise the committee’s report.
Among them is Conservative MP Sir James Duddridge, who has insisted that history will look favourable on Mr Johnson.
The MP for Rochford and Southend East tweeted: “Why not go the full way, put Boris, in the stocks and providing rotten food to throw rotten food at him.
“Moving him around the marginals, so the country could share in the humiliation.
“History will hold Boris in higher regard than this committee. I thank him for his service.”
Former minister hits back at committee criticism
Conservative MP Sir Robert Buckland, who served in Boris Johnson’s Cabinet, said the Privileges Committee report is “fair” and “phrases like ‘kangaroo court’ help nobody”.
Sir Robert, who served in Boris Johnson’s government, also said allegations about potential rule-breaking by Sir Bernard Jenkin, a committee member, are “irrelevant” to the test the MPs were applying in their investigation.
“The conduct of members towards the committee is a relevant consideration for that committee and it will often either make a bad situation worse or, if the member is co-operative, be a mitigating factor that the committee bears in mind,” he told BBC Radio 4’s World At One.
“And here I’m afraid it looks like the committee really were deeply unimpressed.”
He added: “I think phrases like ‘kangaroo court’ help nobody.”
Asked about Sir Bernard, Sir Robert replied: “Whatever Sir Bernard did or didn’t do is irrelevant to the test the committee is applying: did Boris Johnson mislead the House and if so was it intentional?”
Boris Johnson ‘betrayed the people of the UK’, says SNP
Scotland’s First Minister has accused Boris Johnson of “betraying the people of the UK” after the release of a report which found he knowingly misled MPs over Partygate.
Speaking during First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, Humza Yousaf attacked Tory leader Douglas Ross who was pressing him on the delayed project to dual the A9.
Mr Yousaf said: “This is desperate stuff from Douglas Ross, who is trying to dodge, no doubt deflect of course, from the serious scandal his party is engulfed in.
“With Boris Johnson not just lying to the House of Commons, but betraying the people of this country and of the UK.
“When they couldn’t visit a loved one, when they couldn’t attend funerals of loved ones, Boris Johnson was breaking the rules and having parties in No10.
“Douglas Ross can try to deflect, he can try to dodge, but of course nobody in this country can forget that Douglas Ross backed Boris Johnson to the very hilt.”
Key findings from Privileges Committee report that found Boris Johnson misled Parliament
Boris Johnson released a stinging statement in response to the damning Partygate report.
“In order to reach this deranged conclusion, the committee is obliged to say a series of things that are patently absurd, or contradicted by the facts,” he said.
Away from Mr Johnson’s own assessment of the report, the Evening Standard has put together the key findings from the Privileges Committee.
Read our story here.
Partygate report: No10 was ‘oasis of normality’ as ‘wine time Fridays’ parties continued in lockdown
No10 was an “oasis of normality” during the pandemic with parties and social drinks continuing as normal, witnesses told MPs investigating whether Boris Johnson lied to Parliament over Partygate, writes Rachael Burford, political correspondent
The Privileges Committee on Thursday released its damming report which found the former Prime Minister had deliberately and repeatedly misled the Commons over lockdown gatherings in Downing Street.
Birthday parties, leaving drinks and end of week socials all “continued as normal” and staff were told to watch out for cameras, a witness told the committee.
They felt it was clear that lockdown rules were not being followed during the pandemic and “Wine Time Fridays” in the press office did not stop even when the Government imposed strict measures on gatherings.
“No10, despite setting the rules to the country, was slow to enforce any rules in the building,” the report states.
Read our story here.
Rees-Mogg accuses Privileges Committee of ‘trying to damage Boris Johnson’
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg has accused the Privileges Committee of “deliberately trying to do damage to Boris Johnson”.
The former cabinet minister, an arch-supporter of the former prime minister who was knighted in Mr Johnson’s resignation honours, told Sky News: “I think they have come to conclusions that are not fully supported by the evidence.
“I think their fundamental judgment is wrong because I don’t think he deliberately misled Parliament.”
Sir Jacob also renewed his criticism of committee chairwoman Harriet Harman, saying she was “not the right person” to lead the inquiry because “she had publicly tweeted her criticisms and her disbelief in Boris Johnson”.
He also called the 90-day suspension recommendation “extraordinary,” saying: “I think it shows that the report is deliberately trying to do damage to Boris Johnson.”
Downing St: ‘No plans’ to cancel Boris Johnson’s ex-PM allowance
Downing Street has brushed off a Liberal Democrat call for Boris Johnson to be stripped of his funding to continue running an office as a former Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman said: “I’m not aware of any plans to do that.
“These arrangements are fairly long-standing – it’s not a personal salary or allowance, it’s the reimbursement of expenses for office and secretarial costs.”
No 10 also rejected suggestions that Mr Johnson’s resignation honours list should be rescinded and said there were “no plans” to recoup the cost of Mr Johnson’s publicly-funded legal fees.
No10 suggests Rishi Sunak has not read Partygate report
Downing Street suggested Rishi Sunak has not yet had chance to read the Privileges Committee’s report on Boris Johnson.
“I’m not aware he has,” the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said, adding that Mr Sunak had been with police on an immigration raid on Thursday morning.
The spokesman added: “This is the work of a parliamentary committee the House voted on to carry out their work.
“Its conclusions and recommendations are for the committee and its members have fulfilled their mandate from the House.
“In line with proper process it’s now for the House and MPs to consider its findings.”
Angela Rayner: Johnson ‘shouldn’t be anywhere near Parliament’
Labour’s Angela Rayner has expressed support for the Privileges Committee’s suggestion of stripping Boris Johnson of his parliamentary pass.
Asked whether she thought that was going too far, the Labour deputy leader said: “No I don’t because somebody like him should never have been prime minister because he’s shown that he can’t uphold the standards in public life…
“He’s undermined his office and he’s undermined the office of prime minister. He’s a disgraced prime minister. He shouldn’t be anywhere near Parliament.”