MICHAEL Gove has said he will abstain from Monday’s vote on the Privileges Committee’s report into the Partygate scandal, which would see Boris Johnson stripped of his right to attend parliament for 90 days.
Appearing on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Gove said that he did not agree with the conclusions of the report and said that a 90-day suspension was “not merited”.
“I’ve read the whole report,” he said. “There are parts of it that I think are excellent work.
“I don’t agree with the conclusion, however, personally. I think that the final conclusion, the decision to impose a 90-day penalty, is not merited by the evidence that the committee have put forward.”
When pressed by Kuenssberg over whether he would vote in favour of the report’s findings he said: “I will not vote. I will abstain.”
“A 90-day penalty is not merited" Housing Secretary Michael Gove says while Boris Johnson's actions "fall short of what should be expected” he doesn't agree with the conclusion of the Privileges Committee and will abstain from the Commons vote#BBCLauraK https://t.co/X0WK4DGerE pic.twitter.com/oBr0hCe9hT
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) June 18, 2023
It comes after the first video footage of a dozens of Conservative members partying during lockdown was released to the public.
The Christmas celebration, which took place at Conservative Campaign Headquarters on December 14, 2020, shows people dancing, drinking and joking about being caught “bending the rules”.
MPs are due to vote on the report’s findings on Monday, with the motion expected to pass comfortably.
However, Gove said that MPs should be permitted to make up their own minds about the Privileges Committee’s findings.
He added: “I think it’s critically important that each individual member of the House of Commons forms their own judgment.
“So, I would not wish to influence anyone else. My own judgment is the committee have done good work, it is a good report.
“There are clear areas where the actions of Boris Johnson as prime minister fall short of what should have been expected. No doubt about that. And it is appropriate that he faces criticism.
“And he has already forfeited his job as prime minister and left the House of Commons of his own volition.”
Boris Johnson’s former advisor Samuel Kasumu also appeared on the programme.
He claimed it was “completely possible to achieve great things and still be a bit of a knob”.
“Boris Johnson’s legacy is, of course, the vaccine deployment, but it’s also some of the nonsense that happened when I was there,” he said.
“It’s completely possible to achieve great things and still be a bit of a knob, I think.
“Not that I’m calling Boris Johnson a knob of course, heaven forbid.”
