By Editor-June 15th, 2023.
A report by British members of parliament says ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson deliberately misled the House of Commons over Covid-19 lockdown parties at the offices of the Prime Minister.
The committee says it would have recommended suspending Johnson from the House for 90 days, but for the fact that he had already resigned as an MP
It says he deliberately misled the House, the committee, impugned the committee and was “complicit in the campaign of abuse and attempted intimidation of the committee”
The Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Johnson to apologise, with deputy leader Angela Rayner saying he “never accepts responsibility for what he does”
The Lib Dems say Johnson “treated the public with utter disdain” while the SNP called for further sanctions against the ex-PM
Campaign group Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK accused Johnson of breaking his own laws “so he could have a party”
Last week, Johnson stepped down as a Tory MP after being given advance sight of the Privileges Committee’s report
Johnson responded to the report’s publication with a written statement in which he called its findings “a protracted political assassination”.
What is Partygate?
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the UK enacted several quarantine laws, the effect of which was that people were prevented from visiting dying family members in hospital, or even from attending funerals. Even if a family member lived next-door, it could be illegal for them to come to lunch. ANy kind of party or group celebration was completely illegal.
As individuals and families around the country made sacrifices – sometimes of the most significant kind imaginable – rumours abounded that their leader was not following his, and medical experts’, advice.
The stories emerging involved gatherings inside the home and workplace of the PM, in 10 Downing Street, London, some including alcohol, music, cake, nibbles, and a distinct lack of social distancing. And at times, these ‘gatherings’ were not only against the advice given, but against the laws set down during the peak periods of the pandemic. This was Partygate.
The main finding is that he deliberately misled the House of Commons by repeatedly telling it, after the Partygate scandal emerged, that Covid rules had been followed at all times in Downing Street.
He has already admitted MPs were misled by his original statements, but he says he believed them to be true at the time, and they were based on assurances he had received from officials.
One key bit of evidence came from Martin Reynolds, his former principal private secretary, a civil servant.
Reynolds testified that that birthday parties, leaving parties and end of week gatherings “all continued as normal” during the pandemic at 10 Downing Street, the office of the Prime Minister.
Souces: BBC, CNN, Sky News, agencies.
