London Boris Johnson hasn’t been Prime Minister for almost a year, and yet the 58-year-old cast a spell over Great Britain again on Wednesday: Johnson had to cross-examine a parliamentary committee under oath in front of running TV cameras for more than four hours.
The seven MPs want to find out whether the Tory politician deliberately or through gross negligence lied to the House of Commons about violations of corona rules at the seat of government during his tenure as Prime Minister.
Johnson began his defense aggressively: “Hand on heart. I didn’t lie to Parliament,” said the visibly upset ex-Prime Minister. The committee “didn’t find anything,” proving he deliberately lied.
“I apologize for accidentally misleading the House of Commons,” he said. Johnson asked the panel to release any evidence so that citizens could get an idea.
The politician described the fact that this had not yet happened as “obviously unfair”. He accused Labor leader Harriet Harman of being biased.
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Specifically, it’s about farewell, Christmas and birthday parties during the pandemic from May 2020 to April 2021, where social distancing rules were not observed while the rest of the country remained in strict lockdown.
I apologize for inadvertently misleading the House of Commons. Boris Johnson, ex-Prime Minister of Great Britain
Johnson was fined for attending his birthday party in early summer 2022 and had to resign shortly thereafter after an internal party rebellion over his leadership style. The scandals were uncovered in an investigative report by government official Susan Gray.
During his hearing, the former head of government was repeatedly confronted with photos showing him during the lockdown at celebrations at 10 Downing Street, where distance rules were obviously not observed. Johnson justified the gatherings as “very important” for morale and insisted the rules were followed as closely as possible.
Did Johnson knowingly lie to Parliament?
In December 2021, Johnson had assured in the House of Commons in Westminster that no corona rules had been broken at the celebrations branded as “Partygate”. This could now be his undoing if the so-called “Privileges Committee” comes to the conclusion in its final report that the ex-prime minister deliberately lied to parliament.
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If he does, Johnson could face a temporary ban from the House of Commons and a new election in his Uxbridge constituency. His political career would be over and he would have to bury his secret hope of returning as prime minister like his role model Winston Churchill.
In his 52-page defense, with which Johnson went on the offensive even before the hearing, he admits that he misled parliament. At the same time, however, he insists that he always made his statements “in good faith” and “on the basis of my honest knowledge”.
There is “no evidence whatsoever to support the allegation that I deliberately or recklessly misled Parliament”. He always followed the assessments of his advisors. However, his then-Cabinet chief, Simon Case, has said that neither he nor other government officials gave Johnson any assurances that no rules or guidance were violated at the meetings.
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Johnson attacked the Harman-led investigation as “highly biased.” His party friend, Conservative MP Scott Benton, condemned the hearing on Twitter as a “circus”. Apparently, this is intended to undermine the investigation and its result.
The seven-member committee, in which the ruling Tories have a majority, had determined in a preliminary assessment of the events that the rule violations for Johnson should have been “obvious”.
The parliamentary committee intends to present its final report in a few weeks. After that, Parliament must vote on possible consequences. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has already announced that he intends to lift the parliamentary group requirement for Conservative MPs to vote on his predecessor.
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