oris Johnson should have been suspended for 90 days from the Commons for “repeated contempts” and for seeking to undermine the parliamentary process, a bombshell partygate report revealed on Thursday.
The Commons’ Privileges Committee has concluded the former prime minister committed a “serious, serious contempt” by misleading Parliament after denying lockdown rules were broken in No 10.
In a damning summery, the committee said: “We conclude that when he told the House and this Committee that the rules and guidance were being complied with, his own knowledge was such that he deliberately misled the House and this committee.”
Mr Johnson has called the committee a “kangaroo court”, and dramatically quit as an MP on Friday after receiving its verdict.
Mr Johnson’s resignation ahead of the report’s publication means that a by-election will be triggered in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency next month in a major electoral test for Rishi Sunak.
Mr Johnson’s allies Nigel Adams and Nadine Dorries have also announced their resignations.
Live updates
‘No precedent’ for Prime Minister having misled Parliament – report
Boris Johnson misled Parliament deliberately, the Committee has found, and did so repeatedly, the 180-page report has found.
The committee found: “We have concluded above that in deliberately misleading the House Mr Johnson committed a serious contempt.
“The contempt was all the more serious because it was committed by the Prime Minister, the most senior member of the government.
“There is no precedent for a Prime Minister having been found to have deliberately misled the House.
“He misled the House on an issue of the greatest importance to the House and to the public, and did so repeatedly.
“He declined our invitation to reconsider his assertions that what he said to the House was truthful.
“His defence to the allegation that he misled was an ex post facto justification and no more than an artifice. He misled the Committee in the presentation of his evidence.”
Boris Johnson deliberately misled Parliament over Partytgate, report finds
Boris Johnson deliberately misled Parliament over partygate and should be suspended for 90 days, an official report found today.
The former Prime Minister resigned after seeing the Privileges Committee’s findings last week.
In a damning summary, the committee said: “We conclude that when he told the House and this Committee that the rules and guidance were being complied with, his own knowledge was such that he deliberately misled the House and this committee.”
Senior Tory MP urges Nadine Dorries to stand down
A senior Tory MP has told Nadine Dorries she must officially step down for the “good” of the party and the country, writes Rachael Burford, political correspondent.
Chair of the Defence Select Committee Tobias Ellwood said the former Culture Secretary dragging out her resignation would mean a “public pantomime” continues to distract from the cost of living crisis and other issues facing Britain.
“It harms the party,” he told Sky News. “It’s not good for the nation. It distracts the Government so please send in your letter to the Chancellor, make it clear you are stepping back.”
Boris Johnson announced he was resigning as an MP for his Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat last week after reading the Privileges Committee report into whether he misled Parliament over partygate.
Ally Nigel Adams also stepped down after being excluded from the former PM’s resignation honours list and Ms Dorries announced she will go too. But her demands for answers about why she was denied a peerage before she formally quits as an MP look set to prolong the by-election struggle for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Mr Ellwood added: “When you have two by-elections taking place, but a third delayed until potentially we return in September it just drags the damage out. It does nobody any favours whatsoever. Allow those by-elections all to take place on one day.”
Johnson ally questions Partygate committee’s impartiality
An ally of Boris Johnson has questioned the impartiality of the Privileges Committee – which has a Tory majority – ahead of the Partygate report.
Michael Fabricant, MP for Lichfield, said he trusted Parliament, but questioned the impartiality of members of the seven-member committee.
Four of the seven members of the committee are Conservative MPs, two members are Labour MPs, and one represents the SNP.
Mr Fabricant told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme: “I looked at the members of the committee, some of them behaved in a totally proper way. Others were pulling faces, indicating they didn’t agree with what Boris was saying.
“I was quite shocked actually by their behaviour. Justice has to be seen to be done but I am not convinced the committee were demonstrating their impartiality.”
Conservative MP Michael Fabricant
/ PA ArchiveJohnson accused of ‘distraction tactics’ ahead of Partygate report
Boris Johnson has been accused of using “distraction tactics” after it was alleged a member of the Privileges Committee broke lockdown rules, writes political correspondent, Rachael Burford.
Just hours before the report expected to confirm that the former PM misled Parliament over Partygate was due to be released, allegations emerged that senior Tory MP Sir Bernard Jenkin attended a birthday party when Covid restrictions were in place.
Mr Johnson called for Sir Bernard to resign and said: “He has no choice but to explain himself.”
But Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “This a typical distraction tactic from Boris Johnson that doesn’t change the fact he broke the law and lied about it.”
MPs should not ‘impugn integrity’ of Partygate committee, says former Tory leader
A former Conservative leader has criticised MPs for “impugning the integrity” of the Privileges Committee.
Lord Howard, the former leader of the Conservative Party from 2003 to 2005, said it was “quite wrong” for MPs to criticise the committee.
Boris Johnson called it a “kangaroo court” upon resigning on Friday, a sentiment that has been echoed by some of his allies.
Lord Howard told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “This committee was set up by Parliament and those of us who respect Parliament and the fact that we are a parliamentary democracy should not in my view impugn the integrity of the committee.
“In fact the committee was set up by parliament I believe when Boris Johnson was prime minister.
“So I am not going to speculate on the report, obviously, I have no idea what it contains but I think it is quite wrong to, particularly for members of Parliament, to impugn that important parliamentary committee set up by the House of Commons.”
Conservatives ‘left picking up pieces’ for Boris Johnson – senior Tory MP
The support Boris Johnson once enjoyed from the Conservative Party is rapidly changing into disappointment and anger, a senior Tory MP has said.
Tobias Ellwood suggested Mr Johnson’s “long-term intention” of plotting a comeback now looked less possible as the Conservatives are “left to pick up the pieces”.
“Johnson’s confidence stemmed from the huge support he received from the party base,” Mr Ellwood, a former government minister, told Sky News.
“He was loved by members across the country but this is changing before our very eyes. There’s now disappointment even anger that the party, the activists are left to pick up the pieces.”
Tobias Ellwood
/ PA WireSunak refuses to discuss Partygate report
Rishi Sunak stressed on Thursday that a damning report on Boris Johnson misleading the Commons was a “matter for Parliament”, writes Nicholas Cecil, political editor.
As the Tory civil war over the ex-PM escalated, Mr Sunak sought to avoid being dragged deeper into the controversy.
The report, which is expected to conclude that the former prime minister misled Parliament when he denied that lockdown rules were broken in Number 10, is due to be released later today.
However, at an immigration visit in Harrow, Mr Sunak said he could not comment on a report he had not seen.
Asked if he believed if Mr Johnson should be allowed to be an MP, the Prime Minister said: “You are talking about a report that I haven’t seen and that no one else has seen. It wouldn’t be right to comment on it in advance of it coming out and being published.”
He added: “These are matters for the House of Commons, and Parliament will deal with it in the way that it does.”
Mr Sunak was also asked if he was “frustrated” by Mr Johnson’s interventions in the past week. “No, I’m just getting on with delivering for the country,” he said.
What do we know about the Privileges Committee report?
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of today’s political events, including the much-awaited report into whether Boris Johnson misled MPs over partygate.
The report is expected to be released at around 9am on Thursday and to be some 30,000 words long.
Mr Johnson has indicated he will make his “views clear” once it is released – although he resigned on Friday as an MP after receiving a draft, calling the committee a “kangaroo court”.
The Financial Times reported that Mr Johnson will be found to have committed “multiple” contempts of Parliament, including disclosing some of its draft findings in his resignation statement last week.
Meanwhile, according to the Times, the MPs on the panel have rejected his defence that senior officials advised him Covid rules and guidance had been followed in No 10.
A senior aide in fact warned him against claiming to the Commons that social distancing guidelines were observed, the newspaper reported.
The committee could also raise concerns about MPs who have criticised the 14-month probe, but not name them.
