MPs begin Commons debate on Boris’s damning Partygate report
The debate over a damning privileges committee report that branded Boris Johnson a ‘liar’ has begun in the House of Commons, ahead of a crunch vote to decide his fate.
The former prime minister deliberately misled Parliament by repeatedly denying lockdown parties took place in Downing Street, the committee concluded.
Mr Johnson quit as MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip with immediate effect days before the report was officially published.
The former Conservative party leader dramatically threw in the towel after learning the committee had concluded he should be suspended for 90 days – a sanction which could have triggered a by-election.
His decision to stand down with immediate effect means MPs will not vote on his future in parliament – but instead, whether or not they support the privileges committee’s report.
They will also vote on whether Mr Johnson should be stripped of his parliamentary pass – which allows him to come and go on the parliamentary estate.
No former prime minister has ever faced such a sanction.
Mr Johnson claims he has been ‘forced out of parliament’ and has accused the cross-party committee of being a ‘kangaroo court’ – despite four of its seven members being Conservative.
Downing Street has not whipped Tory MPs to vote either way – meaning they have the opportunity to snub Mr Johnson, if they choose.
He is understood to have told supporters not to vote against the report findings.
Speaking in the Commons, Mr Johnson’s predecessor Theresa May commended the committee for their ‘painstaking work’ and ‘dignity in the face of slurs on their integrity.’
The former prime minister said: ‘This committee report matters. This debate matters. And this vote matters. They matter because they strike at the heart of the bond of trust and respect between the public and Parliament that underpin the workings of this place and of our democracy.’
Privileges committee chairman, Labour MP Harriet Harman, said: ‘Because he was prime minister, Mr Johnson’s dishonesty, if left unchecked, would have contaminated the whole of government, allowing misleading to become common place and thus erode the standards which are essential for the health of our democracy
Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove yesterday said the 90-day suspension was not warranted by the evidence.
Mr Johnson’s predecessor, Liz Truss, today described the report as ‘pretty harsh’.
‘[Boris Johnson] himself has said he’s made mistakes, and none of us are perfect,’ she said.
‘I think the judgment is pretty harsh, but I’m not questioning the integrity of those people.’
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been urged to ‘show leadership’ amid speculation he will skip the vote.
This morning he said he did not influence anyone ahead of the decision, telling Good Morning Britain: ‘It will be up to each and every individual MP to make a decision of what they want to do when the time comes, it’s important the government doesn’t get involved in that because it is a matter for parliament and members as individuals, not as members as government.’
But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the PM should ‘get in the lobby and show us where he stands on this.’
Mr Sunak faced a fresh headache after a video emerged showing a party at Conservative Campaign Headquarters during the pandemic.
The Metropolitan Police is ‘considering’ the footage, captured on December 14, 2020, when the nation was subject to Tier 2 restrictions and ordered not to socialise indoors.
And the PM also now faces four potentially damaging by-elections after another Conservative MP announced he was standing down on Sunday.
David Warburton resigned from his Somerset and Frome seat after accusations of sexual harassment and drug taking.
The by-election for Mr Johnson’s former seat in Uxbridge and South Ruislip is expected to take place on July 20.
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