Yahoo News Watch the first moment Boris Johnson deliberately misled parliament
Watch: Boris Johnson misleads parliament during Partygate grilling by Keir Starmer
This is the moment Boris Johnson deliberately misleads parliament, a transgression laid bare in a damning report on his handling of the Partygate scandal.
The then-prime minister was being grilled by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer in the House of Commons on 1 December 2021 about a Christmas party in Downing Street the previous year while millions of people were locked down.
The exchange was the first to be highlighted by the report as when Johnson misled MPs.
A defiant Johnson remained stated: "What I can tell the right honourable gentleman is that all guidance was followed completely in No 10."
In a war of words between the two party leaders, the former PM then accused Starmer of having his own Christmas party planned, even though the rules were more relaxed by this point.
Starmer proceeded to read out a set of "very clear" rules in place during December 2020, including "you must not have a work Christmas lunch or party".
Read more: Boris Johnson Partygate report - live: No idea what’s going on? Follow the latest updates
He asks Johnson if he really expected people to believe it was "fine for him and his friends to throw a boozy party" when everyone else was told to stay at home.
This is just one of several occasions where Johnson was found to have deliberately misled parliament over the Partygate saga, as laid bare in a scathing 30,000 word report by the Commons privileges committee.
The panel of MPs found he was "deliberately disingenuous" when "advanced legally impermissible reasons to justify the gatherings", and "unsustainable" interpretations of COVID rules at the time.
It also said Johnson was "complicit in the campaign of abuse and attempted intimidation of the committee" and recommended a 90-day suspension which would have paved the way for a by-election - had he not beaten them to it by standing down as an MP last week.
Boris Johnson Partygate report: Read more
Key points from the Partygate report into Boris Johnson (Telegraph)
Analysis: Is This Finally The End Of The Road For Boris Johnson? (HuffPost)
Damning report details how Boris Johnson misled parliament (Guardian)
Read Boris Johnson report in full (Warning: It's 30,000 words long)
When else did Boris Johnson mislead Parliament?
There are too many occasions where Johnson insisted the rules were followed for us to list, but here are some key points made by the committee.
MPs said the former PM misled the House on 8 December 2021 when he said he "relied upon repeated assurances that the rules had not been broken".
While the report says there is evidence of two individuals at No 10 assuring Johnson they didn't think rules had been broken at a gathering on 18 December 2020, it says Johnson "had personal knowledge about gatherings which he should have disclosed".
It added that these purported assurances only applied to 18 December, but that Johnson "gave the House the impression that those assurances had been overarching and comprehensive in respect of No 10’s compliance with COVID measures across the whole period of restrictions".
They say he again misled MPs on 25 May 2022 when he purported to correct the record by saying all guidance had been followed at all times when he was present at gatherings to wish staff farewell.
MPs add: "It represented a continuation of his previous misleading of the House, and seeking to present it as a correction was itself misleading."
