Britain’s former prime minister Boris Johnson has said he accidentally misled parliament over the ‘Partygate’ scandal, but blamed top aides ahead of a television broadcast that could decide his political fate.
Johnson will re-enter the bear pit of the parliamentary inquisition on Wednesday for grilling by the cross-party privileges committee that will reopen old wounds.
Parliament’s Privileges Committee is investigating whether Johnson, who was removed from Downing Street last September, deliberately or recklessly misled Parliament in a series of statements about the rule-breaking parties.
If the committee finds Johnson has deliberately misled parliament, he could be suspended from the House of Commons, the lower house of parliament. Any suspension longer than 10 days could lead to by-elections in his constituency.
The Partygate scandal ultimately contributed to Johnson’s downfall after months of reports that he, along with other senior government figures, had been present at alcohol-driven Downing Street rallies in 2020 and 2021, when most of the rest of Great Britain Britain was forced to stay. at home due to coronavirus restrictions and lockdowns.
People hold banners as they take part in a demonstration in support of security guards and cleaners working in government offices, according to information detailed in the Sue Gray report in London’s Partygate (John Sibley/Reuters)
The outcry and repeated accusations of lying eventually led to the resignation of much of his top team of ministers, including the current prime minister, Rishi Sunak.
Johnson’s staunch supporters insist he has been betrayed by Conservative colleagues and are campaigning for his return in the run-up to the general election likely next year.
Ahead of the televised hearing, Johnson was defiant when he released a 52-page dossier detailing his belief that he was being truthful when he told the Commons on several occasions that all COVID rules were being respected.
In retrospect, he admitted that he had “misled” the House, but only unintentionally and based on assurances from top officials that the rules were followed.
“I did not deliberately or recklessly mislead the House on any date,” he wrote. “I never dreamed this.”
Johnson was fined by police for meeting in Downing Street along with Sunak, his then Chancellor of the Exchequer.
The former Conservative leader apologized and corrected the parliamentary record last May after previously urging MPs that the meetings were overboard.
‘Lack of shame and humility’
Johnson himself nearly died of COVID. Relatives who have lost loved ones said his defense showed he was brazenly trying to evade responsibility.
“Johnson’s defense continues to highlight his lack of shame and humility,” said Kathryn de Prudhoe, a psychotherapist whose father died early in the pandemic.
“The victims of all of this are families like mine who lost loved ones in the most traumatic circumstances, people who lost their jobs, livelihoods and homes or their sanity because they followed the rules he set but couldn’t abide by them . ” she said.
Successive waves of COVID from 2020 have killed more than 220,000 people in the UK, the second highest toll in Europe after Russia.
A public inquiry will examine the government’s overall response and will likely take years.
I will not forgive or forget Johnson #Party gate My mother cried on her 90th birthday when her only grandson couldn’t enter the house, but read her poetry on a chair on the sidewalk pic.twitter.com/fB7IjPYRq7
— Caroline Kenyon (@C_Kenyon1) March 21, 2023
Johnson’s many denials
Dec 1, 2021 – “All guidelines were fully followed in Issue 10,” Johnson tells the House of Commons in response to a Daily Mirror story from the previous day. It is the first time he has raised the issue in parliament.
December 8, 2021 – Johnson, again addressing the House of Commons: “Since these allegations emerged, I have been repeatedly assured that there was no celebration and no COVID rules were broken.”
14 January 2022 – Downing Street apologizes to Queen Elizabeth II after reports emerged of staff partying well into the night before her husband Prince Philip’s funeral in April.
January 25, 2022 – London’s Metropolitan Police launch its own investigation.
12 April 2022 – Johnson, his wife Carrie and Sunak are all fined by Met police for attending a June 2020 party organized by staff for the Prime Minister’s birthday. “To be honest, it didn’t occur to me at the time that this could be a violation of the rules,” Johnson said.
May 25, 2022 – A report describes partying on Downing Street in gory detail, including vomiting, a fight between staff and rudeness towards security and cleaning staff. While saying “I deeply regret” the gloomy picture painted by the report, Johnson rejected the opposition’s renewed demands for his resignation. He said it was his duty to be present when leaving drinks for departing staff as part of his job. “It didn’t occur to me that this was anything other than what I think was my duty to do as Prime Minister during a pandemic and that’s why I did it,” he told reporters.
July 7, 2022 – Johnson resigns as Prime Minister.
