Privileges Committee finds Boris Johnson misled Parliament
A damning report into Partygate has laid bare Boris Johnson’s final disgrace, but No 10 said it will not axe his controversial resignation honours list.
A cross-party committee of MPs found the former prime minister repeatedly lied to Parliament before being complicit in a campaign of abuse and intimidation.
The privileges committee recommended a 90-day suspension which would have paved the way for a by-election if he had not dramatically quit. They concluded he should be barred from holding a pass to parliament.
But Downing Street said it had no plans to scrap Mr Johnson’s resignation list, in which he gave honours to allies embroiled in Partygate.
“When it comes to honours, that’s a long-standing convention, the prime minister has abided by convention, that’s not going to change,” Rishi Sunak’s spokesman said.
Mr Johnson hit out at what he called a “deranged conclusion”, accusing the Tory-majority group of MPs, who he has repeatedly sought to disparage, of lying.
His arch-ally Nadine Dorries also said any Tory MP who votes to approve the report is “fundamentally not a Conservative”. MPs will debate the report on Monday.
Former Tory MP labelled ‘crackers’ after claiming Partygate report was ‘revenge for Brexit’
Former Tory MP Lord Jackson has been labelled “crackers” after claiming that the Partygate report written by the Privileges Committee was revenge against Boris Johnson due to his support for Brexit.
Lord Jackson said: “It is a kangaroo court, the people there are politicians, they are masquerading as a quasi-judicial process, there are people with axes to grind.
“There wasn’t due process in my opinion, he has been treated unfairly. This process would not have lasted even 10 minutes in a magistrates court and there are people who are out there to get him. And what this is effectively is revenge for Brexit dressed up as a quasi-judicial process”.
Good Law Project’s Ellie Mae O’Hagan responded that this view was “crackers” and that Lord Jackson was “repeating the kind of croynism we at the Good Law Project challenge, which is why you don’t like it”.
Sunak joins police on illegal working raid as government asylum targets falter
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said there is “lots of work to do” to reduce asylum claim numbers as he joined immigration enforcement officers on a raid.
Mr Sunak wore heavy boots and a stab vest as he joined officers on the raid in Brent, north west London, early on Thursday morning.
It comes after he promised to abolish the backlog of around 92,000 asylum claims by the end of 2023.
However, Home Secretary Suella Braverman told MPs on Wednesday that the target will not be met at the “current pace”.
Asked after the raid about Ms Braverman’s comments, Mr Sunak said: “It was good to be out this morning with our immigration enforcement team and seeing first-hand their work to tackle illegal working.
“That’s an important strand of our work, to stop the boats and tackle illegal migration.
“And that’s because the criminal gangs use a business model that tempts people here with the offer of black market work.
“It’s not right, which is why we’ve increased resources for immigration enforcement.
“We’ve increased the number of raids like the one I was on this morning by 50% and we’ve doubled the number of arrests.”
He added: “But we’re not complacent.
“There’s lots of work to do, which is why it’s so important that we pass our Bill through Parliament, our Stop The Boats Bill, which will mean that if you come here illegally, you will not be able to stay.
“We will be able to detain you and then swiftly remove you.”
Two by-elections scheduled for July 20
The two by-elections triggered by the resignation of Boris Johnson and Nigel Evans will take place on July 20.
Mr Evans previously represented the Selby and Ainsty constituency in North Yorkshire and Mr Johnson was the MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, in Greater London.
Yousaf rejects claims of collusion between police and media in SNP finance probe
Scotland’s First Minister has said he does not believe there has been collusion between the police and media during the investigation into the SNP’s finances.
Humza Yousaf was speaking after one of his backbench MSPs had accused the press of making a “big play” of the arrest of former first minister Nicola Sturgeon.
Ms Sturgeon was released without charge, pending further investigation, on Sunday evening.
SNP MSP James Dornan claimed the “police and the media seem to have some kind of collusion about making sure that the media are in attendance when the slightest thing happens”.
Police Scotland has denied the accusation, with a spokesman for the force saying: “Any suggestion that the media were informed in advance of an arrest is untrue.”
Asked about Mr Dornan’s comments by journalists at Holyrood on Thursday, Mr Yousaf said: “I don’t believe that.”
He said he would not comment further “on a live investigation”.
Humza Yousaf said minority governments often need help passing budgets (Robert Perry/PA)
” height=”5461″ width=”8192″ layout=”responsive” class=”i-amphtml-layout-responsive i-amphtml-layout-size-defined” i-amphtml-layout=”responsive”> Humza Yousaf said minority governments often need help passing budgets (Robert Perry/PA)
Glenda Jackson death: Oscar-winning actor and former Labour MP dies aged 87
Glenda Jackson, the double Oscar-winning actor and former Labour MP, has died aged 87 after a “brief illness”.
Her agent issued a statement that said Jackson died at her home in Blackheath, south-east London.
“Glenda Jackson, two-time Academy Award-winning actress and politician, died peacefully at her home in Blackheath, London this morning after a brief illness with her family at her side,” Lionel Larner said.
Roisin O’Connor reports:
The five lies that doomed Boris Johnson
While just one instance of misleading the house would have been enough to land Mr Johnson a sanction, the committee concluded he had done so on five separate occasions.
Below are the five lies that led to Mr Johnson’s downfall.
Archie Mitchell reports:
‘Stick that up your kangaroo court, Boris!’: What the committee really meant in its excoriating report
John Rentoul, our chief political commentator, reads between the lines of the report of the privileges committee: what it said – and what it really meant.
What the Committee of Privileges said: This inquiry goes to the very heart of our democracy. Misleading the House is not a technical issue, but a matter of great importance. Our democracy depends on MPs being able to trust that what ministers tell them in the House of Commons is the truth.
And what it really meant: We take ourselves very, very seriously. You would not have argued with us if you knew what is good for you, Boris.
More from John here:
Widow of Covid victim feels ‘empty’ after report published
A woman whose husband died with Covid-19 said she feels “empty” following the publication of a report that found Boris Johnson deliberately misled Parliament with his partygate denials.
The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice (CBFFJ) UK campaign group said Mr Johnson “should never be allowed to stand for any form of public office again”.
One member of the group, Fran Hall from Buckinghamshire, said there was “no happiness” at the report’s findings, adding that Mr Johnson is a “disgraced former prime minister”, which she said was now “plain and evident to see”.
The 62-year-old’s husband, Steve Mead, died three weeks after the couple were married in 2020.
She told the PA news agency: “There are so many people who are just traumatised by what’s happened to them and the people they love.
“They will never recover and there will be no justice.
“They’ve just got to live with the knowledge that they have been absolutely let down by the people that were in charge of ensuring that we were kept safe, and we weren’t.
“It will always sting but we had the worst possible prime minister at the worst possible time and he was surrounded by people that enabled him to continue to lie to everyone.
“I feel empty, really.”
Bereaved relatives held pictures of loved ones lost during the pandemic outside the inquiry (Belinda Jiao/PA)
” height=”2000″ width=”3000″ layout=”responsive” class=”i-amphtml-layout-responsive i-amphtml-layout-size-defined” i-amphtml-layout=”responsive”> Bereaved relatives held pictures of loved ones lost during the pandemic outside the inquiry (Belinda Jiao/PA)
Boris Johnson has done what dog does against lamppost, says former boss Max Hastings
Boris Johnson’s former boss says the former prime minister is not a “decent human being” and made fools of the public while in No 10.
Jane Dalton reports:
Partygate report is ‘fair’ and and phrases like ‘kangaroo court’ help nobody, says Tory MP
Tory MP Sir Robert Buckland said the damning report into Partygate is “fair” and “phrases like ‘kangaroo court’ help nobody”.
Sir Robert, who served in Boris Johnson’s government, also said allegations about potential rule-breaking by Sir Bernard Jenkin, a committee member, are “irrelevant” to the test the MPs were applying in their investigation.
“The conduct of members towards the committee is a relevant consideration for that committee and it will often either make a bad situation worse or, if the member is co-operative, be a mitigating factor that the committee bears in mind,” he told BBC Radio 4’s World At One.
“And here I’m afraid it looks like the committee really were deeply unimpressed”.
He added: “I think phrases like ‘kangaroo court’ help nobody.”
Sir Robert Buckland said the committee were “really were deeply unimpressed” (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)
” height=”4000″ width=”6000″ layout=”responsive” class=”i-amphtml-layout-responsive i-amphtml-layout-size-defined” i-amphtml-layout=”responsive”> Sir Robert Buckland said the committee were “really were deeply unimpressed” (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)
