Yahoo News Boris Johnson 'deliberately' misled MPs over partygate, report finds, and should be banned from parliament
A parliamentary inquiry has concluded that Boris Johnson knowingly misled parliament multiple times with his statements about parties in Downing Street during the COVID pandemic.
The privileges committee of MPs found Mr Johnson's breaches serious enough to recommend a suspension of 90 days if he were still an MP - far exceeding the period needed to trigger a recall petition and possible by-election.
In the highly anticipated report, published this morning, the committee found that Mr Johnson:
• Misled MPs on multiple occasions by insisting all rules had been followed in Downing Street, despite lockdown-breaching parties
• Was "deliberately disingenuous" when he tried to explain and "justify the gatherings"
• Breached the confidence of the committee
• Committed further contempt in his conduct by impugning the committee - thereby undermining the democratic process of the House of Commons
• Was "complicit in the campaign of abuse and attempted intimidation of the committee"
In a further sanction, the committee also recommended that Mr Johnson should not be given a former member's pass granting access to parliament following his resignation as an MP.
The former prime minister has been under investigation by the Commons privileges committee since last June, after an investigation by police and then-senior civil servant Sue Gray confirmed a series of gatherings had taken place in Downing Street during lockdowns.
The cross-party committee, led by Labour MP Harriet Harman, assessed whether Mr Johnson misled parliament - either recklessly or deliberately - with his statements claiming all COVID rules and guidance were followed by Number 10.
In a scathing 30,000-word assessment, the committee said that in "deliberately misleading the House Mr Johnson committed a serious contempt".
"The contempt was all the more serious because it was committed by the prime minister, the most senior member of the government.
"There is no precedent for a prime minister having been found to have deliberately misled the House."
'Final knife-thrust in a protracted political assassination'
The former prime minister immediately hit back at what he called a "deranged conclusion" and branded the committee's report a "charade", adding: "I was wrong to believe in the committee or its good faith."
He took particular aim at Ms Harman, saying the "terrible truth is that it is not I who has twisted the truth to suit my purposes - it is Harriet Harman and her committee".
"This is a dreadful day for MPs and for democracy," he said, adding its investigation had delivered "what is intended to be the final knife-thrust in a protracted political assassination".
Johnson had 'personal knowledge' of gatherings
In coming to its conclusion, the MPs did not find Mr Johnson's defence that no one had advised him the gatherings were against the rules as credible.
The ex-PM has repeatedly asserted he believed one Number 10 leaving do - where he was seen toasting colleagues to mark the departure of communications chief Lee Cain - was "absolutely essential for work purposes".
But the committee again found against him, saying it did not believe that "severe staff morale pressures during the COVID pandemic… in itself provided a licence for Mr Johnson's conveniently flexible interpretation of the rules on gatherings, or the guidance on social distancing."
Read more:
Who are the privileges committee investigating whether Boris Johnson misled parliament over partygate?
Boris Johnson: What the former PM told the privileges committee about partygate
'He lied to our faces'
A campaign group representing families bereaved in the pandemic said Mr Johnson "should never be allowed to stand for any form of public office again".
David Garfinkel, spokesperson for COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, said: "This is another grim reminder that whilst families like mine were saying goodbye to our loved ones over Zoom, the same prime minister that failed us so badly in the first place was breaking his own rules so he could have a party and a laugh.
"Johnson has shown no remorse. Instead he lied to our faces when he told us that he'd done 'all he could' to protect our loved ones. He lied again when he said the rules hadn't been broken in Number 10, and he's lied ever since when he's denied it again and again."
'Desperate stuff'
The publication of the report comes after Mr Johnson dramatically quit as an MP on Friday after receiving its draft findings.
In a last-ditch attempt to disparage the Tory-majority panel on the eve of publication, he called for its most senior Conservative member to resign.
He accused Sir Bernard Jenkin of "monstrous hypocrisy" after the Guido Fawkes website reported the MP had gone to a drinks party in parliament held by Commons Deputy Speaker Dame Eleanor Laing while COVID restrictions were in place in 2020.
But Mr Johnson was accused of attempting to distract from the report's findings by opposition MPs, while a source close to the committee reportedly dismissed the intervention as "desperate stuff".
'Absolutely absurd'
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said following the publication of the report that Mr Johnson was a "liar and law-breaker" who has "treated the public with utter disdain".
On Monday MPs will be given a free vote on whether to endorse the committee's report and whether to remove Mr Johnson's pass to the parliamentary estate.
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Downing Street did not say whether Prime Minister Rishi Sunak would be present for the vote or how he would vote.
Some Conservatives came to the former prime minister's defence, with Brendan Clarke-Smith saying he was "appalled at what I have read and the spiteful, vindictive and overreaching conclusions of the report".
He tweeted: "I won't be supporting the recommendations and will be speaking against them both publicly and in the House on Monday. I'm backing fairness and justice - not kangaroo courts."
Esther McVey also said it was "absolutely absurd and unnecessary" for Mr Johnson to be denied a pass to the parliamentary estate, while former levelling up secretary Simon Clarke said he was "amazed at the harshness" of the committee's report.
