Boris Johnson denies ‘intentionally or recklessly’ misleading MPs in dossier handed to Partygate probe saying he acted in ‘good faith’ and No10 aides also ‘honestly believed’ the rules had been followed
- Boris Johnson facing four-hour showdown with Privileges Committee tomorrow
Boris Johnson today denied ‘intentionally or recklessly’ misleading MPs over Partygate in a bombshell dossier.
Mr Johnson has submitted a 52-page file to the cross-party Privileges Committee tomorrow ahead of a four-hour grilling tomorrow.
In the document he insisted he acted in ‘good faith’ and argues that many other No10 aides were also ‘honestly’ convinced that rules had been followed.
Allies have been condemning the process as a ‘kangaroo court’, arguing that Labour chair Harriet Harman has already made her views clear and not all evidence is being made public.
A survey of activists by the grass roots ConservativeHome website found widespread scepticism about the process, with 59 per cent saying it is unfair.
However, Rishi Sunak made clear this morning that he will not order Tories to line up behind Mr Johnson should the committee find he misled the House.
Tension is building today ahead of Boris Johnson’s (pictured jogging this morning) Partygate showdown with MPs – as the ex-PM’s bombshell defence is set to be released
A survey of activists by the grass roots ConservativeHome website found widespread scepticism about the process, with 59 per cent saying it is unfair
Allies have been condemning the process as a ‘kangaroo court’, arguing that Labour chair Harriet Harman (pictured) has already made her views clear and not all evidence is being made public
Mr Johnson conceded in his evidence to the Privileges Committee that his statements to Parliament ‘did not turn out to be correct’, but insisted he amended the record at ‘the earliest opportunity’.
‘It is of course true that my statements to Parliament that the Rules and Guidance had been followed at all times did not turn out to be correct, and I take this opportunity to apologise to the House for that,’ he said.
‘As soon as the Sue Gray investigation and the Metropolitan Police investigation had been concluded, I corrected the record. I believed – and I still believe – that this was the earliest opportunity at which I could make the necessary correction.
‘It was not fair or appropriate to give a half-baked account, before the facts had been fully and properly established, including into many events about which I had no personal know
Mr Johnson said in the submission that he still did not know why he had been fined for his birthday ‘party’ in June 2020 – and suggested that Mr Sunak feels the same way.
‘There is one event for which the current Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak MP, and I were given fixed penalty notices by the Metropolitan Police: the event on 19 June 2020,’ he wrote.
‘I have accepted the conclusion of the Police that my participation in the gathering in the Cabinet Room on my birthday, which I knew nothing about in advance,13 was unlawful.
‘However, to this day it remains unclear to me – and I believe the Prime Minister may feel the same – how precisely we committed an offence under the Regulations.
‘I have never been provided with any rationale by the Police, in particular how some individuals that attended did not receive a fixed penalty notice.’
In an interview with BBC Breakfast, Mr Sunak indicated that if Mr Johnson’s case comes before the Commons he will follow the convention that it is a free vote.
‘These are matters for Parliament and the House and MPs as individuals, rather than for Government. So that is the general process that we will follow,’ he said.
Asked whether he agreed with the portrayal of the inquiry as a witch hunt, Mr Sunak said: ‘That’s ultimately something for Boris Johnson and he’ll have the committee process to go through and that’s a matter for Parliament. That’s not what I’m focused on.’
Mr Johnson’s team says the Commons Privileges Committee – which has a Tory majority with four members – has received ‘thousands of documents’ supporting his claim that he did not deliberately mislead Parliament.
Dozens of witnesses are said to have told the committee they also believed the notorious gatherings were within the rules.
The MPs have already published a 23-page summary of the issues they want to raise with Mr Johnson, including his communications with aides and why he made statements in Parliament insisting there had been no rule breaches in Downing Street.
The PM and Rishi Sunak were both eventually fined for a single lockdown breach – in relation to a birthday party for the then-premier – after investigations by civil servant Sue Gray and Scotland Yard. However, Mr Johnson was not fined for any of the other events.
Ms Gray has since been recruited as Keir Starmer’s new chief of staff, although she is awaiting clearance from the appointments watchdog before accepting.
The Privileges Committee is holding an unprecedented investigation into whether Mr Johnson misled Parliament when he told MPs that ‘all guidance was followed’ in No10.
It has suggested he could be punished if he did so ‘recklessly’, rather than the normal threshold of deliberately.
The committee could potentially recommend a lengthy suspension that could trigger a by-election in his Uxbridge & South Ruislip.
Allies of the former PM fear the inquiry, led by Labour’s former deputy leader Harriet Harman, has become a ‘witch hunt’.
In an interim report this month, the committee said it should have been ‘obvious’ to him at the time that lockdown rules were not being observed.
Rishi Sunak made clear this morning that he will not order Tories to line up behind Mr Johnson should the committee find he misled the House
It published messages from No 10 aides, including one suggesting it was hard to explain how a Cabinet Room gathering to mark Mr Johnson’s birthday was within the rules.
And the inquiry was granted access by No10 to a vast cache of internal documents.
But Mr Johnson’s team suggests many messages showing him in a more favourable light have been suppressed.
ConservativeHome regularly surveys a panel of party members, and although the results are not entirely scientific they are closely-watched at Westminster.
The latest poll found the activists agree that Mr Johnson broke lockdown rules by 49 per cent to 38 per cent.
Around 30 per cent said he deliberately misled the Commons over Partygate, but 59 per cent insisted he did not.
Some 59 per cent said the process is unfair, compared to 30 per cent who thought the opposite.
However, just a quarter suggested Mr Johnson should return as leader and PM before the next election, while 66 per cent said he should not.
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