Boris Johnson has lost his special access to parliament after MPs voted to endorse the privileges committee’s report that he lied about parties in Downing Street during the COVID pandemic. The report found that the former prime minister knowingly misled parliament multiple times with his statements about gatherings in Number 10 during lockdown. MPs voted by 354 to seven to back the report’s findings, with a total of 118 Conservatives voting for the report, while 225 abstained.
Conservative MPs criticise Johnson
During the debate, a number of Tory MPs criticised Johnson, including his predecessor Theresa May, who praised the committee for its “rigorous” report. “It is not easy to sit in judgment on friends and colleagues,” she said, “but friendship, working together, should not get in the way of doing what is right.” Harriet Harman, the Labour chair of the committee whom Johnson accused of conducting a “kangaroo court,” thanked the Conservative members who took part in the probe for their “outstanding dedication and commitment”. She confirmed that she had checked with the government that it was happy for her to chair the committee and had offered to step aside.
Committee recommends sanctions
In its damning report, the committee recommended that Johnson should have served a 90-day suspension from the Commons had he not resigned as an MP just days earlier. It also said he should have his right to access parliament as a former MP revoked. Eight Cabinet ministers backed the privileges committee report, including Justice Secretary Alex Chalk, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, Chief Whip Simon Hart and Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt. The seven Conservative MPs who voted against the report were Bill Cash, Nick Fletcher, Adam Holloway, Karl McCartney, Joy Morrissey, Desmond Swayne and Heather Wheeler.
Johnson hits back
The former prime minister immediately hit back at what he called a “deranged conclusion” and branded the committee’s report a “charade,” adding its investigation had delivered “what is intended to be the final knife-thrust in a protracted political assassination.” Rishi Sunak, who was not present for the debate or vote, was accused of a “cowardly cop-out” by the Liberal Democrats.
The debate and vote comes after the committee’s damning verdict issued last week, which found Johnson guilty of impugning the committee and being complicit in a “campaign of intimidation” against its members. Conservative MP Nick Fletcher confirmed he would not vote for the report on the grounds that the country “needs to move on.”
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, who received a knighthood in Johnson’s controversial resignation honours list, said it was “ridiculous” to remove Johnson’s right to access parliament as a former MP. He also denounced the committee’s proposed sanction of a 90-day suspension from parliament as “vindictive.” He told MPs that it was “absolutely legitimate to criticise the conduct of a committee, to criticise the members of a committee,” adding: “That is politics.”
Daisy Cooper MP, the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, said Sunak’s failure to vote “says all you need to know about this prime minister’s lack of leadership.” “Sunak promised integrity yet when push came to shove, he was too weak to even turn up.”
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