Boris Johnson committed 'repeated contempts' of Parliament by misleading members deliberately through his denials of partygate, before being complicit in a campaign filled with abuse and intimidation - a cross-party investigation has concluded. The Privileges Committee recommended that he receive a 90-day suspension, after he was branded the first former Prime Minister to have lied to the Commons in history,
This would have paved the way for a by-election, had he not already quit in anticipation. His earlier resignation means that he will escape the suspension, however, the committee recommend that he should not receive the pass granting access to Parliament - which is normally given to former MPs.
Former Tory leader Johnson meanwhile, hit out at the 'deranged conclusion' - accusing the Conservative-majority group of MPs led by Labour vet Harriet Harman, who he has repeatedly sought to disparage, of lying. The ex-PM called the committee 'beneath contempt', claiming that the 14-month expose had delivered 'what is intended to be the final knife-thrust in a protracted political assassination' - The PA News Agency reports.
Read more: Boris Johnson quits as an MP with immediate effect over Partygate probe
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'.
However, 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'.
The committee said in the report: "We came to the view that some of Mr Johnson’s denials and explanations were so disingenuous that they were by their very nature deliberate attempts to mislead the committee and the House, while others demonstrated deliberation because of the frequency with which he closed his mind to the truth."
It found he also breached confidentiality requirements in his resignation statement by criticising the committee’s provisional findings. The report said: "Mr Johnson’s conduct in making this statement is in itself a very serious contempt."
The committee said his resignation last Friday means it is 'impossible' for the recommended suspension to be imposed. It far exceeded the 10-day threshold which, if approved by the wider House of Commons, could have led to a recall petition in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency.
Attacking the committee’s findings, Mr Johnson said: "This is rubbish. It is a lie. This is a dreadful day for MPs and for democracy."
The committee, comprised of four Tories, two Labour MPs, and one from the SNP, found he misled the House in five ways with his Covid-19 assurances and had been 'disingenuous' with their investigation multiple times. They found many aspects of his defence were 'not credible', allowing them to conclude he 'intended to mislead' MPs.
The committee dismissed Mr Johnson’s argument that mid-pandemic staff leaving dos were essential to maintain staff morale, noting they attracted police fines while the rules would have been clear to him. The MPs, wrote: "A workplace ‘thank you’, leaving drink, birthday celebration or motivational event is obviously neither essential or reasonably necessary.
"That belief, which he continues to assert, has no reasonable basis in the rules or on the facts."
They criticised his persistence in arguing a 'unsustainable interpretation' of the rules to argue events were permissible as being 'disingenuous and a retrospective contrivance to mislead'. The committee said his public criticism was a 'cynical attempt to manipulate' the opinions of MPs and the public.
They found it highly unlikely as the “most prominent public promoter” of Covid rules that he could have 'genuinely believed' his Partygate denials to MPs. Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt announced that MPs will debate the Privileges Committee report on Monday.
It presents another headache for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s challenge to unite the bitterly divided Tory party which has only been entrenched by his public row with Mr Johnson. His arch-ally Nadine Dorries claimed the report had 'overreached' and said that any Tory MP who votes to approve it is 'fundamentally not a Conservative' and should be deselected.
Labour’s shadow Commons leader, Thangam Debbonaire, said: "The evidence in this report is damning and the conclusions the committee came to are clear: Boris Johnson is a lawbreaker and a liar. Rishi Sunak must now confirm the Government will follow precedent and give the House the opportunity to approve the report and endorse the sanctions in full."
The Liberal Democrats called for Mr Johnson to be stripped of the £115,000 annual allowance available to former prime ministers to run their office Deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: "This damning report should be the final nail in the coffin for Boris Johnson’s political career.
"Rishi Sunak must cut off Johnson’s ex-prime minister allowance to stop him milking the public purse for his own personal gain. Anything less would be an insult to bereaved families who suffered while Boris Johnson lied and partied."
The committee had considered whether it should have recommended expelling Mr Johnson from the Commons. During discussion of the report’s final findings, the SNP’s Allan Dorans and Labour’s Yvonne Fovargue backed the stronger sanction.
But the amendment was opposed by the Conservative members: Sir Charles Walker, Andy Carter, Alberto Costa and Sir Bernard Jenkin, whom Mr Johnson has urged to resign from the committee over his own alleged rule-breach.
Read next:
