Damning ‘partygate’ report says Boris Johnson deliberately misled Parliament
Global News
Johnson should be denied automatic access to Parliament for deliberately misleading lawmakers over rule-breaking COVID lockdown parties, a committee said.
Britain’s former prime minister Boris Johnson should be denied automatic access to parliament for deliberately misleading lawmakers over rule-breaking COVID lockdown parties, a committee said on Thursday in a damning report.
Johnson reacted by calling the findings “rubbish.”
The privileges committee – the main disciplinary body for lawmakers – said Johnson had misled parliament on several occasions about Downing Street parties in a manner unprecedented for a prime minister.
The committee also accused Johnson of being “complicit in a campaign of abuse and attempted intimidation” towards them.
Its conclusions were a new low for one of Britain’s best-known and divisive politicians who in 2019 led the governing Conservatives to a landslide election victory but whose tenure was cut short by scandal.
Johnson shot back, repeating his innocence and condemning the report as “rubbish,” “a lie” and “a charade,” and accusing committee members of waging a vendetta against him.
The stand-off will do little to heal the deep divisions in the Conservatives and can only pile pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whose push to try to boost Britain’s flagging economy is being overshadowed by the ongoing Johnson drama.
The more than 100-page report details six events held at Downing Street, the prime minister’s offices and residence.