Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been slammed as 'pound shop Winston Churchill tribute act' after a damning Privileges Committee report where he was found to have committed "repeated contempts" of parliament.
The damning judgement by the cross-party privileges committee found that Mr Johnson had misled his fellow MPs deliberately through his repeated denials around the partygate scandal.
It also accused the ex-PM of being complicit in a campaign filled with abuse and intimidation, and recommended a 90-day suspension from the House of Commons - which would have been voted on by MPs on Monday, had Mr Johnson not already resigned last week upon receiving the report.
The controversial Mr Johnson branded the results of the investigation "deranged" - but his former colleagues in the North East have refused to comment on the situation. Conservative members Hexham MP Guy Opperman, Blyth Valley MP Ian Levy, Berwick's Anne Marie Trevelyan along with North West Durham representative Richard Holden and Sedgefield MP Paul Howell have all been approached for comment on the report but have not yet responded.
But Labour MPs in the region have chosen to have their say. Newcastle North MP Catherine McKinnell called for a General Election following the publication of the report.
She said: "While families in Newcastle North and across the country dutifully followed the rules, unable to visit loved ones, missing funerals, weddings and births, we know now from the Police, the Sue Gray report and now the Privileges Committee, that there were repeated breaches of the rules at the heart of Government.
"That Boris Johnson has chosen to stand down rather than face the consequences of his actions shows his contempt for Parliament and for the British people. The recommendations of the Privileges Committee, which is a well-respected cross-party Committee, with a majority of Conservatives MPs are rightly damming.
“Once again, we are seeing that rather than face up to his actions however, the former Prime Minister is intent of trying to undermine and delegitimise the Committee through a campaign of abuse and intimidation.
“Rather than waiving through Boris Johnson’s honours list and the by-elections, it is time that the Prime Minister called a General Election and gave the people a say over the direction of the country."
Wansbeck MP Ian Lavery added: “The news this morning has confirmed what he have long known about the former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, that he misled the house, misled the committee, and more importantly mislead the country.
"His reign as the Prime Minister was both a tragic and frankly embarrassing period for our country, and his pound shop Winston Churchill tribute act only served to remind us of just how far the standards of our politicians have slipped over recent decades. Boris Johnson has always played the clown, but his legacy is no laughing matter.
"He now resorts to the tactics of his great pal across the pond by screeching ‘fake news’ at the report which rightly condemns his behaviour. It would set a dangerous precedent were he to return to frontline politics, and if he had any dignity and decency he would accept his failures, quietly slip away out of public life, and reflect on the damage he has caused our country and political system.”
Neighbouring MP Chi Onwurah, who represents Newcastle Central, agreed and added: "The evidence in this report is damning and the conclusions the committee came to are clear. People in Newcastle are crying out for leadership on the issues that matter to them.
"It’s time for a fresh start with a mission-led Labour government and a Prime Minister of integrity in Keir Starmer who will out working people first."
As reported by the PA News Agency, Mr Johnson has called the Privileges Committee, chaired by veteran Labour MP Harriet Harman, as "beneath contempt", and claimed g that the 14-month expose had delivered 'what is intended to be the final knife-thrust in a protracted political assassination'.
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."
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