Boris Johnson lied to Parliament about ‘Partygate’: keys to the investigation

The parliamentary commission that investigates the former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson released its conclusions on Thursday and stated that Johnson “deliberately misled” the legislature about “partygate,” the scandal over the parties at his residence when he was in power during the covid-19 confinement.

These are the keys to the scandal that ended up removing Johnson from power.

What is ‘partygate’?

He partygate scandal erupted after it was revealed that Johnson and dozens of other top officials were fined for violate the rules of social distancing that the government imposed for the population.

According to the accusations, while Johnson ordered the confinement during the pandemic, multiple gatherings and parties were held in his office and his residences that violated these social distancing regulations.

This sparked outrage in public opinion, especially among the relatives of people killed by covid-19.

This scandal was the catalyst for an accumulation of controversies that forced Johnson to resign in July 2022, cornered by his own party. But the former prime minister retained his position as deputy and continued to have a lot of influence with the conservative majority. Until his resignation just a week ago.

(Also read: ‘Partygate’, the scandal that continues to hit Boris Johnson)

The role of the commission

So things, a commission was created with the aim of determining whether Johnson intentionally lied to Parliament when stating that the restrictions against covid-19 had been respected during the parties held in Downing Street during the 2020 and 2021 lockdowns.

In March, Johnson appeared for more than three hours before the committee, saying “hand on heart” that he had not lied to Parliament.

The former conservative leader, who is about to turn 59, resigned from his seat as deputy last week after being informed about the conclusions of this investigation that lasted 14 months.

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What did the commission conclude?

The seven-member commission finally determined Thursday that Johnson “deliberately misled the commission and the House.” and that if he had not resigned from his position as deputy last Friday he would have been suspended for 90 days for “repeated contempt and for trying to undermine the parliamentary process.”

“There is no precedent for a prime minister deliberately misleading the House,” the commission said. “He Misled the House on a matter of the greatest importance to the House and to the public, and he did it repeatedly,” he added.

The committee also found that Johnson was in contempt when he failed to inform the Commons of his own knowledge of meetings where the rules had been broken.

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There was also contempt when Johnson insisted on waiting for an earlier “partygate” report to be published –by the civil servant Sue Gray – before being able to answer questions in the House of Commons on this controversy.

According to the report, Johnson violated confidentiality requirements when he announced his resignation as deputy last Friday, as he criticized the committee’s findings, which were under embargo until Thursday. “Mr. Johnson’s conduct in making this statement is in itself a grave contempt,” the report states.

The commission’s report also noted that Johnson’s resignation letter last Friday constituted an “attack on democratic institutions” in Britain.

Possible sanctions against Johnson

The committee, which has a conservative majority although it was chaired by Labor Harriet Harman, recommends in the report that Johnson, 58, be suspended from the House of Commons for a period of 90 days, although he admits that this will not apply because the politician has already resigned as a parliamentarian.

Among the recommendations, however, the commission asks that Johnson be banned from entering Parliament, which is usually a privilege enjoyed by former prime ministers.

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The former head of government was “complicit in the committee’s campaign of abuse and attempted intimidation,” the investigation indicates, and he vetoed access to the chamber by recommending “that he does not have the right to pass as a former parliamentarian.”

The commission’s report will be debated on Monday by the plenary session of deputies and will then be put to a vote.

Johnson’s reaction to the report

In his first reactionJohnson described this Thursday as “garbage” the report that accuses him of cheating deliberately to the House of Commons.

“The committee says that I deliberately misled the House and when I spoke I was knowingly concealing from the House my knowledge of wrongdoing. That’s rubbish. It’s a lie. To reach this wild conclusion, the committee is forced to say a number of things that are absurd or contradicted by the facts,” Johnson said.

In a statement, the former head of the Conservative Government considered that this Thursday is “a frightful day for deputies and democracy” and assured that no parliamentarian is “safe from a vendetta.”

“This report is a farce. I was wrong to believe the committee or its good faith. The terrible truth is that it is not I who have twisted the truth to suit my purposes. It is Harriet Harman and her committee,” he added.

The number two of the opposition Labor Party, Angela Rayner, for her part, compared Johnson’s reaction “with that of a child who throws his toys out of the car because he has been caught.”

The association of victims of the covid-19 affirmed that “it is a total tragedy that Johnson was in charge when the pandemic occurred and he should not be allowed to run for any public office again.”

INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With AFP and EFE

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