The Partygate affair is catching up with Boris Johnson long after his tenure as British Prime Minister has ended. did he lie Johnson appears before the Partygate committee.
London – Lockdowns and contact restrictions are also in Great Britain quite a while in the past, but they still occupy society and politics. With the party gate Boris Johnson and his administration for an unprecedented scandal in British government circles. It is not only since then that Johnson has been accused of being flexible with the truth. On March 22, the ex-prime minister is to be questioned about the party gate: it’s about knowingly deceiving parliament.
Boris Johnson: Did the former UK Prime Minister lie in the Partygate affair?
The former British Prime Minister had recently presented a 52-page dossier for his defense in Partygate, in which he presented his case to the committee of MPs party gate investigated, makes serious allegations. The bipartisan panel’s “claims” are “absurd, illogical and partisan,” Johnson said Independent. He now faces a public hearing before the House of Commons Privileges Committee on Wednesday, March 22nd.
Johnson is confident and said in advance: “I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s committee meeting. I believe that the evidence conclusively shows that I did not knowingly or negligently mislead Parliament. The committee hasn’t come up with any evidence that I did it.” He shouldn’t be too sure of his case, though.
Many observers consider his defense weak. Former Tory cabinet minister David Davis has been critical of Johnson’s reliance on assurances from his communications director, Jack Doyle. A party that happened in December 2020 was compliant. Johnson’s defense includes WhatsApp messages from Doyle assuring this.
Davis drastic words im Independent: “The idea of ministers just saying what special advisers write for them is utter crap. If that’s the strength of the argument, then it goes under without a trace. If that’s what it was then he’s going to have a rough time.” Johnson is not accused of direct participation in most of the events involved, for one celebration for his birthday he had already had to pay a fine himself.
Boris Johnson in Partygate: untruth in “good faith” or calculated lie?
Johnson had already admitted in the past that he had misled Parliament on the issue of corona violations in politics. However, the former prime minister claims he denied allegations “in good faith” based on what he “honestly” knew at the time. Not only the opposition, but also large parts of the British public doubt this version. The question now for Johnson is how the committee will rate his defense on Wednesday.
It is significantly more than a case in which corona rules are said to have been broken in government circles. Many also doubt Johnson’s claims that he acted in the best of faith and denied it because of his past – the Tory politician had the truth not always taken so narrowly.
In his 2016 Brexit campaign, Johnson also mobilized his party by arguing that the UK pays £350m a week to the EU. Later he had to admit sheepishly that it was only 160 million. That too could theoretically have been ignorance, but his earlier past also speaks against him: Johnson was already a journalist at the 1980s Times fired – he had made up quotes. Against this background, the countless inconsistencies in the Partygate appear in a particularly dubious light. Johnson faces a lengthy suspension. (ales)
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