Partygate report LIVE: Tory MPs may be forced to show support for Boris Johnson as vote looms

MPs are debating the damning report that found Boris Johnson lied to Parliament over partygate.

The former Prime Minister is set to be stripped of the Parliamentary pass issued to former MPs after the Privileges Committee ruled he deliberately misled the House of Commons over lockdown rule breaking in Downing Street during the pandemic.

Rishi Sunak and a number of Tory cabinet ministers are expected to avoid the discussion, which is expected to run for at least four hours.

The cross-party committee’s report concluded that Mr Johnson - who labelled the probe a “kangaroo court” - should have faced a 90-day suspension for misleading the House had he not already resign.

It is not yet clear whether Mr Johnson’s supporters will force a vote on its conclusions. But it is likely the recommendations will be “nodded” through by MPs after Mr Johnson urged his allies not to oppose it, arguing the sanctions have no practical effect.

Tory civil war set to escalate amid Partygate debate

15:15 , Sami Quadri

Rishi Sunak’s hopes of defusing a Tory civil war over the Privileges Committee report look set to be dashed today when a series of Conservative MPs will make clear their intention to back the 90-day suspension of Boris Johnson.

The Levelling Up Secretary, Michael Gove, said yesterday that he planned to abstain on any vote on the motion to endorse the committee’s report, which found that the former prime minister had lied repeatedly to Parliament over “Partygate“.

During a Commons debate on the report, the Privileges Committee’s Labour chair, Harriet Harman, is expected to be scathing of Mr Johnson.

Some Tory MPs may also speak in favour of the report’s findings. The Speaker will then ask MPs if they back the motion to endorse the report. If no MPs shout their opposition, the motion will be carried without a vote.

Senior Tories hit campaign trail as potential Johnson vote looms

15:55 , Sami Quadri

A number of senior Tory MPs hit the campaign trail in Uxbridge and South Ruislip on Monday, with many Conservatives expected to abstain from a potential vote on whether or not to sanction Boris Johnson in Parliament.

The House of Commons is set to vote on whether or not to back the Privileges Committee’s investigation which found the former prime minister committed “repeated contempts” of Parliament by deliberately misleading MPs with his partygate denials.

But with Rishi Sunak looking set to duck the potential vote, other senior Tories took themselves away from Westminster ahead of Monday’s Commons debate, including Conservative Party chair Greg Hands and Government whip Stuart Anderson.

Both Mr Hands and Mr Anderson joined the campaign trail in support of the Conservative candidate for Mr Johnson’s seat, Steve Tuckwell.

“Back in Uxbridge today with a great team (including MPs) to go canvassing for @tuckwell_steve for the by-election on July 20,” Mr Hands tweeted.

The MP for Chelsea and Fulham also shared a picture of himself on public transport with David Mundell MP and chairman of the Scottish Conservatives Craig Hoy as he travelled to campaign for Mr Tuckwell.

Tory MP Mims Davies to vote in favour of Privileges Committee report

16:26 , Sami Quadri

16:28 , Sami Quadri

Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt said she will support the motion to approve the Privileges Committee report into the conduct of former prime minister Boris Johnson.

Asked by shadow Commons leader Thangam Debbonaire about how she would vote, Ms Mordaunt told the Commons: “As the member for Portsmouth North I will be voting to support the committee’s report and recommendations.

“But all members need to make up their own minds and others should leave them alone to do so.”

Labour frontbencher suggests Boris Johnson finds a new role behind the bar

16:36 , Robert Dex

Boris Johnson could consider working in a pub to avoid “early retirement”, Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary has joked.

Jonathan Ashworth asked whether Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride would give the same advice to the 59-year-old Mr Johnson as he has to other over-50s who have left the labour market before the state pension age.

Mr Ashworth drew attention to the ex-prime minister’s future employment ahead of the Commons debate on the sanctions he should face after being found to have misled the House by a cross-party committee of MPs.

Mr Ashworth told the Commons: “I was recently listening to the Chopper’s Politics podcast where the Secretary of State was the guest.

“He revealed that he is telling his friends in their 50s who are not working, he is saying to them ‘why don’t you just go and serve in the local restaurant or do something in the pub?’

“Well, there’s been a very prominent 59-year-old who has just taken early retirement. Will he be voting to sanction him or is he advising him to just go away and work in the pub?”

Mordaunt: Committee is owed a ‘debt of gratitude'

16:38 , Robert Dex

Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt said the Privileges Committee were owed a “debt of gratitude” for their report into the conduct of former prime minister Boris Johnson.

She told MPs: “The committee’s report found that Mr (Boris) Johnson deliberately misled the House and the committee and in doing so committed a serious contempt.

“It also found that Mr Johnson breached confidence, undermined the democratic process of this House and was complicit in a campaign of abuse and attempted intimidation of the committee.

“It is for members to decide whether these findings and conclusions and sanctions they propose are correct and reasonable, and that is question in front of us today.”

In response to an intervention from Labour MP Toby Perkins (Chesterfield), Ms Mordaunt said: “We all owe the committee a debt of gratitude to the work that they have done on our instruction but it is for members to decide whether the conclusions are correct or not.”

Penny Mordaunt: Debate is crucial for public trust

16:43 , Robert Dex

Penny Mordaunt said the debate on the Privileges Committee report into Boris Johnson’s conduct is important for public trust and the rights of MPs “not to be misled”.

The Commons Leader said: “The real world consequences of a vote today may seem to come down to whether the former member for Uxbridge (Mr Johnson) has a pass to the estate. Our constituents may not appreciate why we are focused on contempt towards the House, as opposed to contempts they may feel have been made against them.”

She added: “But we would be wrong to think there is no meaningful consequences to our actions this afternoon. The work of the Privileges Committee in producing this report before us today does not just examine the conduct of a former colleague.

“Their work has also sought to defend our rights and privileges in this place. The right not to be misled, the right not to be abused in carrying out our duties.”

Ms Mordaunt went on: “This matters because the integrity of our institutions matter. The respect and trust afforded to them matters. This has real world consequences for the accountability of Members of Parliament to each other and the members of the public they represent.

“Today, all members should do what they think is right, and others should leave them alone to do so.”

Boris Johnson is not a Prime Minister to ‘be proud of’ says Labour frontbencher

16:47 , Robert Dex

Boris Johnson is “a far cry from a prime minister this country can be proud of”, Labour’s Thangam Debbonaire said, after quoting Winston Churchill in the Commons.

The shadow Commons leader said: “The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.”

“The words of Winston Churchill. First said in this House decades ago and they hang over us today. Boris Johnson in particular and his supporters should heed the words of his hero.

“Mr Johnson undermined and attacked our democratic institutions, a far cry from a prime minister this country can be proud of. He lied to this House, to the people of this country, and when exposed, lashed out at the system designed to hold him and all of us here to account.”

MPs urged to think of families who lost loved ones in the pandemic

16:53 , Robert Dex

MPs must consider the families of those who lost loved ones during the pandemic as they debate the Privileges Committee report into the conduct of former prime minister Boris Johnson, Labour said.

Shadow Commons leader Thangam Debbonaire told the Commons: “The backdrop to this report is the thousands of red hearts on the Covid memorial wall just over the river.

“Every one represents a life lost to this awful disease. For every single heart there is human being loved, mourned, and missed.

“For each there is a story around them of awful loss, of grief compounded by goodbyes done over smartphones, lives ended alone, people robbed of precious time together, and relatives unable to comfort each other at funerals.”

Appealing to Mr Johnson’s supporters, she added: “I urge members who continue to defend Mr Johnson and attack the committee and their findings: think of these families and what this means to them, they are our constituents.

“By defending Mr Johnson’s consistent insistence that thank yous, birthdays, and morale boosting parties were essential work events, this hurts them.”

Met officers studying party footage over potential for further investigation

17:03 , Robert Dex

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said officers would study video footage of a party at Tory HQ to decide if there was cause “for further investigation”.

He told The News Agents Podcast the video told a much clearer story than the photograph previously referred to investigators.

He said: As people know, that case has been previously looked at based on a photo. It’s very obvious a video tells a much richer, clearer story than a photo. And so, the team are looking at that with a view to whether that provides a basis for further investigation.”

Sir Mark implied action is likely to be taken over the footage.

He said: “I think we can all see the colourful nature of the video and how much it tells a story way beyond the original photo. I need to let a team work through that but I think we can all guess which way it will go.”

The force considers various factors when deciding whether to investigate alleged breaches of Covid rules retrospectively.

“One of the things we’ve taken account of in the past, of course, has been those involved in sort of setting the law and setting the policy being an aggravating feature, for example,” Sir Mark added.

PM accused of being too weak to stand up to his predecessor

17:16 , Robert Dex

Rishi Sunak is “too weak” to stand up to Boris Johnson and his “sycophants”, Labour has said.

Shadow Commons leader Thangam Debbonaire told the Commons: “When stories or scandals like this one cut through with the public, it offers a Prime Minister the chance to press the reset button, to show leadership, get to grips with an issue, tackle it head on, but this Prime Minister is simply too weak to do so.

“Despite promising integrity, professionalism, accountability at every level, he has shown he is too weak to stand up to Boris Johnson and his sycophants, which is profoundly dangerous because if we can’t have a Prime Minister that stand up for standards, what have we got?”

Leader of the Commons Penny Mordaunt said the Prime Minister was “on record defending the work of the Privileges Committee”.

She added: “He has called out those that have overstepped the mark from genuine, legitimate questions around process and so forth to attacking and intimidating members of the Committee and bringing the House into disrepute.”

Theresa May: I accept the findings of the report

17:17 , Robert Dex

Conservative former prime minister Theresa May told the Commons she accepts the findings of the Privileges Committee’s report.

She told MPs: “It is a rigorous report and I accept its findings.”

“It is not easy to sit in judgment on friends and colleagues,” she said, adding “but friendship, working together, should not get in the way of doing what is right.

“I commend the members of the Privileges Committee for their painstaking work, and for their dignity in the face of slurs on their integrity. To all the members of the committee, this House should… say thank you for your service.”

She added: “This committee report matters. This debate matters. And this vote matters. They matter because they strike at the heart of the bond of trust and respect between the public and Parliament that underpin the workings of this place and of our democracy.”

Theresa May urges fellow MPs to vote in favour of the report

17:24 , Robert Dex

Theresa May urged her fellow MPs to vote in favour of the report.

The former Prime Minister said all MPs are “under an obligation” to not repeat claims that mislead the House and also correct the record at the first opportunity, adding: “Above all we are all responsible for our own actions.

“Beyond that this House has a responsibility to ensure standards are upheld by showing that we are willing to act against the interests of colleagues when the facts require it and in this case I believe they do.”

She added:“I will vote in favour of the report by the Privileges Committee, I urge all members of this House to do so – to uphold standards in public life, to show that we all recognise the responsibility we have to the people we serve and to help to restore faith in our parliamentary democracy.”

Harriet Harman: I offered to step aside as committee chair but government told me to stay

17:33 , Robert Dex

Harriet Harman said she offered to step aside from the committee but the Government gave her assurances she would not be seen as biased in her judgment of Boris Johnson.

Conservative former minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg referenced a precedent regarding the perception of bias in a House of Lords committee as he highlighted Ms Harman’s tweets criticising the ex-PM, asking: “In relation to her famous tweets, how does she think she met the Hoffmann test?”

Ms Harman, who chaired the committee, responded “I am happy to answer that point that is made. I was appointed by this House in the expectation that I would chair the committee with no one speaking against it.

“After the tweets were brought to light, they were highlighted, because I am concerned about the perception of fairness of the committee and I agree that perception matters, I made it my business to find out whether or not it would mean that the Government would not have confidence in me if I continued to chair the committee.

“I actually said I am more than happy to step aside because perception matters and I don’t want to do this if the Government doesn’t have confidence in me, because I need the whole House of have confidence in the work that the committee has mandated.

“I was assured that I should continue the work that the House had mandated with the appointment that the House had put me into and so I did just that.”

Former Conservative minister says he will vote for the report

17:34 , Robert Dex

Conservative former minister Tobias Ellwood said he would “vote in support” of the Privileges Committee report.

He said: “Even though Boris Johnson has absented himself from this House, almost to some degree making this report somewhat academic, the nation wants to see its conclusion, the nation who puts us here wants to make sure that this process reaches its conclusion.”

Harriet Harman: Conservative committee members have faced ‘threats, intimidation and harassment'

17:37 , Robert Dex

The chair of the Privileges Committee says its Conservative members faced “threats, intimidation and harassment”.

Labour Harriet Harman thanked “every member of the Privileges Committee” for their “outstanding dedication and commitment”, adding: “But particularly the Conservative members of the committee. They have also had to be extraordinarily resilient.

“They have had to withstand a campaign of threats, intimidation, and harassment designed to challenge the legitimacy of the inquiry, to drive them off the Committee and thereby frustrate the intention of the House that this inquiry should be carried out. Yet through all this, they have not given into the intimidation.”

Opposition MP brands Boris as ‘a man child'

18:19 , Robert Dex

Labour’s Dame Angela Eagle (Wallasey) branded Boris Johnson’s departure the “narcissistic howl of a man child who won’t see that he only has himself to blame”.

She said the report was “a damning verdict” on the former Prime Minister.

She said: “There has been no self-reflection, no apology, no acceptance of a shred of responsibility, just the narcissistic howl of a man child who won’t see that he only has himself to blame.”

Sir Ian McKellen brings some drama to committee debate

18:26 , Robert Dex

Actor Sir Ian McKellen was present in the Commons for the debate on the Privileges Committee report.

Sir Ian watched the proceedings from the MPs’ guests gallery, occasionally using a pair of opera glasses.

He declined to comment on leaving the House.

PM’s former PPS defends her old boss

18:54 , Robert Dex

Conservative MP and former PPS for Boris Johnson Lia Nici defended her former boss saying the “prime minister is not the caretaker of the building, it is not their job to go round and look in rooms and decide who may be working and who may not be working”.

The MP for Great Grimsby said: “I have to speak in the House today because I cannot see where the evidence is where Boris Johnson misled Parliament knowingly, intentionally or recklessly…. The reality is – is that Boris Johnson did not knowingly or intentionally mislead this House.”

She went on: “Sadly this is all becoming part of a kind of political opportunism for those people who don’t like Boris Johnson’s approach.”

Jacob Rees Mogg said it is ‘vindictive’ to remove Boris Johnson’s parliamentary pass

19:11 , Robert Dex

Conservative former cabinet minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said it was legitimate to challenge the findings of the Privileges Committee, and said removing Boris Johnson’s parliamentary pass was “ridiculous”.

Addressing the proposed 90-day suspension from the Commons, said: “A vindictive sanction, it seems to me, which they can’t implement because Mr Johnson has left Parliament. So they go from the vindictive to the ridiculous with not allowing him a parliamentary pass.”

He also told MPs: “It is absolutely legitimate to criticise the conduct of a committee, to criticise the members of a committee. That is politics.

“Our politics is adversarial… it is open to us within this chamber to accuse people within the bounds of good order of saying things that we disagree with. Outside this chamber freedom of speech is paramount.”

He added: “We must defend the right of freedom of speech. And, frankly, if politicians cannot cope with criticism you wonder what on earth they are doing with a political career.”

Thenreport may now go to a vote as another Tory MP comes out in opposition to it

19:20 , Robert Dex

The Daily Mirror’s political editor, John Stevens, is reporting that it is looking likely that there are enough Conservative MPs opposed to the report to force a vote on it.

He said: “Tory MP Nick Fletcher says he will vote against Boris Johnson report Sounds like we could have a division”

Tory MPs refuse to back the report

19:25 , Robert Dex

Conservative former minister Dr Caroline Johnson said she could not back the report.

She told MPs she was “concerned that we’re being asked to vote on a sanction with essentially only half of the evidence, and I’m not able to do that”.

Her colleague on the Tory backbenches, Sir Bill Cash said the investigation was “a Labour bear trap for Boris Johnson and the Government”.

Former Tory cabinet minister calls on MPs to back the report

19:30 , Robert Dex

Former Conservative cabinet minister Andrea Leadsom said MPs should back the committee and vote in favour of the report.

She told Channel 4 News: “In my view, as a former leader of the Commons but also a real believer in the importance of parliamentary sovereignty, we have to back a properly constituted committee.

“And it’s not right to simply say, ‘well, I don’t like its findings so I’m just going to bring into question its legitimacy’.”

She also said she hoped enough MPs would support it so it would not need to come to a vote.

“I’m hopeful that this will go through on the nod rather than having a division.

“I want all members to accept the validity of that committee’s findings.”

Johnson ally says he will abstain

19:56 , Robert Dex

An ally of Boris Johnson said he would abstain from a potential vote on the Privileges Committee report because the high number of MPs staying away has “made a bit of a farce of it”.

Bassetlaw MP Brendan Clarke-Smith, who previously said he would vote against it, told Channel 4 News: “I’m not going to be voting one way or the other. I’m against the report and its recommendations.

“It’s not really right. The number of people that are in here, it’s kind of made a bit of a farce of it, I think to be honest.

“If we had a full house here and everybody was here to vote, I think you’d get a more realistic picture, but you’re not going to get that today. So really, I think I wouldn’t want to legitimise that vote today.”

He denied that support for Mr Johnson is so low that the former prime minister’s allies are abstaining to spare him embarrassment.

“I think if you actually did have a vote and I think if people were actually on the estate, I think the numbers would actually be quite decent and quite split.”

MP reminds colleagues the Prime Minister is only ‘human'

20:07 , Robert Dex

Conservative Nick Fletcher, who said he will vote against the motion, urged MPs to remember Boris Johnson is “human” and that during Covid, he “nearly died”.

The MP for Don Valley told the Commons: “We must also remember he is a human, too. In addition to running the country, he dealt with the highs and lows that this life brings. During Covid, he nearly died. He got married. He lost his mum and had a child.”

Tory MP admits he is ‘so over Boris'

20:25 , Robert Dex

One Conservative MP claimed he was “so over Boris” as MPs debated the report setting out how the ex-PM misled Parliament.

Isle of Wight MP Bob Seely told the Commons he would vote for the report, but also said: “I am so over Boris, and I am pretty over lockdown as well. I think sometimes, and really the point I want to make tonight is that we are in danger of making Westminster look small and petty.”

While he described politicians telling the truth as “a keystone to this place”, he added: “The scandal of lockdown, or Covid and how we dealt with it, is not only whether there were ‘wine Fridays’ and cake in Downing Street, and people in protest carrying about pints of milk, but actually whether lockdown worked, the cost of lockdown in terms of lives, in terms of learning, in terms of sanity, in terms of money, and in terms of truth.”

Report goes to a vote

21:33 , Robert Dex

MPs are voting on the report.

Labour forces the vote

21:34 , Robert Dex

Labour forced a vote on the Privileges Committee motion, with the Opposition providing tellers for both the ayes and noes.

East London MP backs the report

21:36 , Robert Dex

Labour’s MP for Poplar and Limehouse backed the report and tweeted her vote to prove it.

MPs vote to back report that found Boris lied over Partygate

21:42 , Robert Dex

MPs voted by 354 to 7 to accept the report that found Boris Johnson lied to Parliament over Partygate.The vote means Mr Johnson, ousted as Prime Minister less than a year ago, will not receive a pass to visit the parliamentary estate and would have been banned for 90 days from sitting as an MP if he had not resigned earlier this mobth,

21:44 , Robert Dex

That brings an end to our live coverage of today’s debate and vote. Thank you for reading.