The Government has confirmed an attempt to delay an investigation into whether Boris Johnson misled Parliament over parties at Downing Street while Covid rules were in force. It says an amendment has been tabled to Labour's motion in the House of Commons on Thursday (April 20) - saying that the matter should wait until the police inquiry is over and Sue Gray's report has been published.
The amendment states that the PM has “accepted mistakes were made” in relation to events in No 10 and the Cabinet Office while coronavirus regulations were in force, and has apologised to the House of Commons and to the country. But it says consideration of whether to refer his comments on partygate to the Privileges Committee should be deferred.
It is understood that all Tory MPs will be whipped to support the amendment. The Mirror reports that Tory whips had been prepared to order MPs to vote against Labour's motion as the Prime Minister travels to India and Chancellor Rishi Sunak visits the US.
The Mirror reports a Labour source as saying: "Tory whips obviously knew that they couldn’t vote this down. They clearly haven’t learnt a thing from the mess they got into over Owen Paterson.
"Boris Johnson is trying to rig the rules to deflect from his own law breaking. Any Tory MP who votes for this is voting for a cover up."
A Government spokesperson said “The Government has tabled an amendment to Labour’s motion which says that consideration of this matter should take place after the conclusion of the police investigation, and the publication of the Cabinet Office report, allowing MPs to have all the facts at their disposal.”
