THE Prime Minister's former chief adviser has said that he is willing to swear "under oath" that Boris Johnson lied to Parliament about parties in Downing Street.
In an update to his blog on January 17, Dominic Cummings has alleged that Johnson knew that a drinks party on May 20, 2020, arranged by his personal private secretary Martin Reynolds (below) was going ahead and urged him to press on with it.
The former Vote Leave chief was working in Downing Street at the time of the gathering and said that it was an "extremely combustible environment" on the day the invite to the party was sent out.
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He alleges that after the invite was sent, "a very senior official replied by email saying the invite broke the rules" and that the email in question would be seen by the inquiry being led by senior civil servant Sue Gray "unless there is a foolish cover-up", Cummings added.
After discussing with the official, Reynolds declined to withdraw the invite and after Cummings also told him it broke the rules, Reynolds is said to have then checked with Johnson himself.
Cummings also details that he was unhappy with Reynolds's performance at the time - with the party invite highlighting the issue - and raised the idea of replacing him with Johnson who dismissed the idea.
Johnson has claimed he thought the party was a "work meeting" but Cummings has dismissed this due to what happened on the day that he was a witness to.
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Cummings wrote: "No10 is throwing out as much confusing chaff as possible, such as nonsense about a ‘drinking culture’ intended to shift blame. (There was no ‘drinking culture’ while I was there but the string of parties after I left shows the PM trying to be ‘my own chief of staff’ was disastrous, as he was told it would be.)"
He said that the events of May 20 alone "mean the PM lied to Parliament about parties" and has said that he and "other eyewitnesses who discussed this at the time" are willing to swear "under oath" that all that he alleges happened on that day.
He has also indicated that more photos of parties are "yet to appear" and that he will say more once the partygate inquiry is published.
The SNP are calling for Cummings to now be included as a "key witness" in the partygate inquiry being led by Gray.
SNP Westminster Leader Ian Blackford MP said: “The Prime Minister’s former chief adviser, who was in post at the time Boris Johnson broke the law, has said he is willing to testify on oath that the Prime Minister was warned about the Downing Street party, allowed it to go ahead anyway, attended it himself, and then lied to Parliament. Lying to Parliament would be a clear breach of the ministerial code alone, and would require the Prime Minister to resign immediately.
“That makes Mr Cummings a key witness in Sue Gray’s inquiry. Without his account, the inquiry will not be worth the paper it is written on. The Prime Minister must now confirm that Sue Gray will interview Dominic Cummings as part of her investigation. Mr Johnson must then come to Parliament and put on record whether he believes Mr Cummings is lying, or whether he will finally admit that he has repeatedly lied to Parliament and the people himself.
“Tory MPs must decide how much longer they are willing to cover for a man who is so evidently unfit for office. With every day that passes, they lose more credibility and do more damage to their party and public faith in the UK Government.”
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