U.K. MPs endorse report against Boris Johnson over ‘partygate’
The Hindu
British MPs have voted 354 to seven to approve a House of Commons committee report that found former prime minister Boris Johnson deliberately misled Parliament about Covid lockdown law-breaching parties at Downing Street.
British MPs have voted 354 to seven to approve a House of Commons committee report that found former prime minister Boris Johnson deliberately misled Parliament about Covid lockdown law-breaching parties at Downing Street.
The 59-year-old, whose exit from 10 Downing Street last year had been hastened by the 'partygate' scandal, had repeatedly denied that lockdown rules were broken within government quarters when asked in the Commons.
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Mr. Johnson has already resigned as Member of Parliament (MP) from West London after the findings of the Privileges Committee report were known to him. He will now lose the privilege of special access to Parliament accorded to former MPs.
Many of his colleagues and Opposition members gathered in the Commons on Monday to debate the report's findings and a majority condemned the former prime minister's actions.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, along with several other Tory MPs, chose not to attend the debate or comment on the report's findings, something several Opposition Labour Party MPs called out during the session that ran into hours.
"It's a crying shame that the prime minister of this country cannot even express how he would vote if he were to turn up today. In my view, that is dereliction of duty," Labour Party's Jess Phillips said.
