MPs investigating whether Boris Johnson purposefully misled Parliament over Partygate will publish their long-awaited report on Thursday. Mr Johnson quit as an MP after receiving an advance copy of the report – which he said had found him guilty “regardless of the facts”. The report follows a year-long inquiry by the Privileges Committee. On Wednesday Mr Johnson called for a committee member to resign over claims the MP had breached Covid restrictions.
The Guido Fawkes website alleged that Sir Bernard Jenkin, a senior Conservative MP on the committee, attended a drinks party for his wife’s birthday in the House of Commons in December 2020. At the time social mixing outside of households or support bubbles was banned in London. Having contacted several people involved in the allegations, the BBC has not been able to independently verify the claims. Sir Bernard, Lady Jenkin and the alleged host of the gathering have been approached for comment.
Mr Johnson has written to Labour’s Harriet Harman, who has chaired the inquiry, demanding she clarify whether she checked that panel members had not attended such events before the inquiry began. If the reports were true, Sir Bernard was “guilty of flagrant and monstrous hypocrisy”, Mr Johnson said. Last week, the former prime minister branded the committee a “kangaroo court” whose purpose “has been to find me guilty, regardless of the facts”. Mr Johnson accused the committee of mounting a “witch hunt” against him, and Ms Harman, of showing “egregious bias”.
The committee said it had “followed the procedures” at all times and accused Mr Johnson of impugning “the integrity of the House by his statement”. At 23:57 BST on Monday, Mr Johnson sent a last-minute letter to the committee in response to their findings. Under the published process, Mr Johnson was entitled to respond to the committee up to 14 days after receiving its draft findings, which were sent last week. The committee said it would deal with the new developments and “report promptly”.
Misleading Parliament
For almost a year, the seven-person committee – a majority of whom are Conservatives – have been considering whether Mr Johnson misled MPs about Covid-19 breaches in Downing Street and what he knew about them. Giving evidence in March, Mr Johnson admitted misleading Parliament, but denied doing it on purpose. He said social distancing had not been “perfect” at gatherings in Downing Street during Covid lockdowns, but insisted the guidelines, as he understood them, were followed at all times.
The Partygate scandal dogged Mr Johnson’s premiership, with police fining him for breaking Covid rules in 2020 – making him the UK’s first serving prime minister to be sanctioned for breaking the law. Mr Johnson’s resignation as an MP, which has triggered a by-election in his marginal constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip, came last Friday.
Mr Johnson said the draft report he had seen was “riddled with inaccuracies and reeks of prejudice”, adding it was clear the committee was “determined to use the proceedings against me to drive me out of Parliament”. “They have still not produced a shred of evidence that I knowingly or recklessly misled the Commons,” he said, insisting “I did not lie”.
