BORIS Johnson has been found to have lied to the House of Commons on numerous occasions about Covid rule-breaking in No 10 during lockdown.
The long-awaited Privileges Committee report into whether the former PM, who resigned last week, was published on Thursday morning.
In it, the report outlined the five different ways in which Johnson misled the Commons about partygate – we’ve rounded them up here.
- Claiming that Covid rules and guidance were followed at all times in Number 10 on four separate occasions
- Failing to tell the House “about his own knowledge of the gatherings where the rules or guidance had been broken”
- Saying he relied on “repeated assurances” that rules had not been broken
- Insisting on Sue Gray’s report to be published before he could answer questions in the House, when he had “personal knowledge which he did not reveal”
- By claiming that rules and guidance had been followed while he was present at gatherings in Number 10 when he “purported to correct the record” in May 2022
The committee also found Johnson had been “disingenuous” when giving evidence to them in six “ways which amount to misleading”.
READ MORE: Beth Rigby reports SNP MP recommended 'explosion' of Boris Johnson
In terms of the punishment Johnson would have faced were he still a sitting MP, the Privileges Committee concluded it would have recommended a 90-day suspension had he not already resigned.
During discussion of the report’s final findings, the SNP’s Allan Dorans and Labour’s Yvonne Fovargue backed a stronger sanction, recommending that Johnson be expelled from the House of Commons.
Although imposing these specific sanctions is not possible given the former PM’s resignation, the report recommended that he be denied a former members’ pass – barring him from the Houses of Parliament.
MPs will be given a chance to vote on this recommendation with this expected to take place on Monday.
Johnson’s full response to the report can be read HERE.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here