Boris Johnson brands Partygate probe ‘deranged’ after MPs find him guilty of deliberately lying to Commons
BORIS Johnson branded the Partygate probe report “deranged” and a “charade” after MPs found him guilty of deliberately lying to the Commons — and sought to ban him from Parliament.
Had the ex-PM not quit in a rage last Friday, he would be facing a 90-day suspension — the second longest punishment dished out in modern times.
After a 14-month probe, the Commons Privileges Committee yesterday decreed Mr Johnson deliberately misled MPs on five occasions.
The seven-strong panel, led by Labour’s Harriet Harman, fired a 50,000-word rocket at the ex-PM — which his supporters branded “bizarre and preposterous”.
The panel said Mr Johnson:
- LIED on four separate occasions that Covid rules were followed at all times in No 10;
- FAILED to tell the Commons about his own knowledge of gatherings where rules or guidance was broken;
- DID NOT get repeated “reassurances” from aides that the Covid rules hadn’t been broken;
- MADE it worse by being “disingenuous” when giving evidence to the MPs in six ways that amounted to lying.
The panel also said he was “complicit” in a “campaign of abuse and attempted intimidation of the committee” — with punishments on the cards for his allies who attacked its members.
MPs will vote on Monday over whether to ban Mr Johnson from holding a Parliamentary pass after he stole the committee’s thunder and quit last week.
Furious supporters of Mr Johnson accused the panel of being a “kangaroo court” involved in a “witch hunt” against the ex-PM.
Sir James Duddridge MP said: “History will hold Boris in high- er regard than this committee.”
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