A Tory minister today demanded Keir Starmer apologise for “misleading Parliament” - while blocking an investigation into Boris Johnson for doing just that.
Nadhim Zahawi claimed it would be “playing politics” to refer the Prime Minister to the Privileges Committee, to decide whether he lied to MPs by denying all knowledge of Partygate.
But seconds later, he demanded Keir Starmer come to the Commons to correct the record about a claim he made yesterday at PMQs.
Sky News interviewer Kay Burley retorted: “It’s a bit pot kettle black!”
Boris Johnson has been accused of misleading Parliament four times when he denied knowledge of parties in No10 and Whitehall.
That is on top of other non-Partygate statements - such as a false claim he made about jobs only yesterday, weeks after admitting it was untrue.
Instead, a Tory amendment will delay any decision on whether to investigate until Partygate police and Sue Gray report back. That is despite Labour ’s original motion also waiting until police finished their probe.
Mr Zahawi insisted this would allow “due process” to be followed, telling Sky: “If you want to play politics with this, the shenanigans that Labour are attempting today is the route.”
But moments later, he let rip at Labour leader Keir Starmer and called for him to apologise to Parliament.
Mr Zahawi said: “He, whether, probably inadvertently, misled Parliament because he got overexcited.
“He accused the Prime Minister of something he clearly had no evidence of. He accused the Prime Minister of attacking the BBC for their coverage in Ukraine.
“The Prime Minister did not do that, and by accusing him at the despatch box mistakenly, he should come and apologise and withdraw.”
Keir Starmer had made his claim after a briefing by a source close to the PM on a behind-closed-meeting of Tory MPs, where the Prime Minister talked about plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.
The source had said: “He said it was a very good policy despite some criticism from the BBC and some criticism from senior members of the clergy - who coincidentally had been less vociferous in their condemnation on Easter Sunday of Putin than they were of our policy on illegal immigrants."
Based on reports of the briefing, Labour’s leader claimed: “The Prime Minister also accused the BBC of not being critical enough of Putin.
"Would the Prime Minister have the guts to say that to the face of (BBC reporters) Clive Myrie, Lyse Doucet and Steve Rosenberg, who have all risked their lives day in, day out, on the frontline in Russia and Ukraine uncovering Putin's barbarism?"
But Mr Johnson denied that, saying: “I did not attack the BBC last night for their coverage of Ukraine. He must be out of his tiny mind. I said no such thing and there are people behind me who will testify to that."
After PMQs, the PM’s Press Secretary said the “vociferous” part of the comment had been referring to the clergy - but not the BBC.
The Tory amendment today would allow a new motion to be brought back to Parliament in a few weeks or months, calling for an investigation into whether the Prime Minister lied.
But it was unclear this morning if Tory MPs would get a free vote next time, or be whipped again to support their Prime Minister.
Sky News reported some Tories had been offered a free vote next time, but one MP told the Mirror: “I’ve been promised jack s***”.
Mr Zahawi told the BBC: “The amendment delivers that due process, that once the police inquiry has been completed and the Sue Gray report has been published fully, then Parliament can refer the matter to the privileges Committee. That’s the right thing to do.”
While going into battle over the BBC, Mr Johnson refused to back down yesterday from his attack on the Archbishop of Canterbury - despite a Church official branding it a “disgraceful slur”.
Last night he doubled down on a flight to India, saying plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda are “morally right” and he was surprised at criticism from church leaders.
The Prime Minister said the proposals to send people arriving “illegally” in Britain to the African nation was “an excellent policy to stop people drowning at sea”.
The plan to “offshore” processing of asylum seekers Britain to Rwanda has caused a major backlash - and was branded “ungodly” by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
But Mr Johnson said he was “surprised to find it criticised”.
Speaking to reporters on a plane to India, he said: “I think it’s the morally right thing to do to stop criminal, cynical gangs exploiting people and sending them to a watery grave.”
He rejected criticism from the Archbishop of Canterbury that the policy was “ungodly”, saying: “That’s my view of the policy.
“It’s a sensible brave and original policy that Priti [Patel] has come up with.”
Mr Johnson claimed reports that he had torn into the BBC over its Ukraine coverage at a private meeting of Tory MPs were incorrect.
But he accepted he had been critical of the broadcaster’s coverage of Rwanda to MPs.
“All I said was I thought that the policy had been misconstrued on the BBC by some parts of the clergy, that’s what I said,” he said.
