Moment Boris Johnson deliberately misled MPs on following Covid guidelines
Boris Johnson deliberately misled parliament over parties in Downing Street during the pandemic, the Privileges Committee is expected to say in its report on Wednesday.
The committee has rejected the former prime minister’s defence that senior officials advised him Covid rules and guidance had been followed in No 10, according to The Times.
One of Mr Johnson’s key aides at the time reportedly advised him to remove a claim from a statement to the Commons that “all guidance had been followed at all times” during Downing St functions.
Mr Johnson removed the line from his opening statement but repeated its assertion during a subsequent debate – something the committee reportedly views as evidence that MPs were deliberately misled.
One senior Tory told The Independent they expect the publication of the report to finish off any chances of a return to politics for Mr Johnson, who resigned as an MP on Friday.
But the former PM seems determined to fight, accusing the committee of “bias” and likening it to a “kangaroo court”, as he told the Express newspaper: “I’ll be back.”
No-deal Brexit ‘crowded out’ UK’s preparations for pandemic, Covid inquiry hears
The government’s focus on Brexit “crowded out and prevented” the work that was needed to prepare for the next pandemic, the lead lawyer to the Covid-19 inquiry has said.
Hugo Keith KC told the inquiry that work around a no-deal exit from the EU threatened by Boris Johnson may have drained “the resources and capacity” that were needed for pandemic planning.
The top lawyer told chair of the inquiry, Baroness Hallett, that a lot of planning went into the “severe consequences of a no-deal exit on food and medicine supplies, travel and transport”.
Adam Forrest has the full story:
Covid inquiry: Everything you need to know about public hearings into UK’s pandemic response
The UK Covid-19 Inquiry opened its first public hearing on 13 June in London, beginning a three-year investigation into the British government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The inquiry will seek to understand the decision-making that led to the imposition of strict lockdown measures on the public, how our evolving understanding of the virus guided policy, what the government got right and what mistakes were made, with a view to being better prepared for future pandemics and public health emergencies.
When then-prime minister Boris Johnson announced the first “stay at home” order on 23 March 2020, British citizens came together in a rare moment of national unity, for the most part, diligently adhering to social restrictions introduced to help stop the spread of the contagious respiratory disease.
Here’s everything you need to know about the public hearings into the UK’s pandemic response:
Cabinet Office’s refusal to hand over documents to Covid Inquiry ‘corrosive’, inquiry hears
The Cabinet Office’s refusal to hand over requested documents to the Covid Inquiry is “corrosive” and will damage confidence in the process, the inquiry has heard.
Sam Jacobs, a lawyer representing the Trades Union Congress, said its position “smacks of having something to hide” and warned the “infighting” between Boris Johnson and the Government “jars with the terrible losses” suffered during the pandemic.
“It (the Cabinet Office) is refusing even to return Mr Johnson‘s diaries to him as it knows Mr Johnson intends to provide them to the inquiry. Mr Johnson himself has been complaining to the Times newspaper of the Cabinet Office foot-dragging in response to the inquiry, of wasting public time and money by delaying the inquiry, and of deliberately frustrating the inquiry’s work.
“My Lady, the infighting jars with the terrible losses described in the impact film that we watched this morning.
“The position taken by the Cabinet Office is corrosive because it damages confidence in this inquiry. It smacks of having something to hide – of fighting tooth and nail to avoid revealing all to the inquiry.
“What the public want to know is … whether the Cabinet Office can approach this inquiry, not just now but going forward, with the spirit of openness and candour that we deserve. Those in the cabinet either have the will to respond openly to this inquiry, or they do not.”
He added: “It is a matter of regret to is that these substantive hearings start under something of a cloud.”
Johnson ‘was updated on resignation honours list by Cabinet Office before June’
The former prime minister is involved in a public spat with Rishi Sunak over his House of Lords nominations, after Nadine Dorries and other allies missed out on getting peerages.
Ms Dorries has claimed information about what was needed for her to pass the vetting process for nominees was not relayed to her in time and accused the Prime Minister of “duplicitously and cruelly” blocking her appointment.
She used an interview with TalkTV to launch a fresh attack on Mr Sunak, claiming he used “weasel words” and “sophistry” in a meeting with Mr Johnson last week which left the outgoing MP believing she would be included.
David Hughes writes:
Tory peer called journalist a ‘presstitute’ and mocked her for being ‘poor’
A Conservative peer bullied and humiliated a women’s rights campaigner both online and in person, a House of Lords investigation has found.
Lord Rami Ranger has been forced to apologise after the inquiry found he had harassed the campaigner and journalist on Twitter – calling her “the epitome of filth and garbage”.
The top Tory donor also described the Indian journalist Poonam Joshi “a total nutcase” and referred to her “poor upbringing” following an argument at a Diwali event in parliament.
Following a complaint from Ms Joshi, Lords standards commissioner Akbar Khan found Lord Ranger had bullied and harassed Ms Joshi by “persistently undermining, humiliating and denigrating” the journalist.
Our Political Correspondent Adam Forrest has the full story:
COVID-19 inquiry hears government was under-prepared
The UK government was under-prepared and failed to anticipate measures needed to protect the vulnerable, an official inquiry heard on Tuesday, as its chair pledged to put the bereaved at the heart of her work.
Former prime minister Boris Johnson ordered the investigation after Britain recorded one of the world’s highest death tolls. More than 175,000 deaths from the novel coronavirus had been reported by the time Mr Johnson stood down in July last year.
The 12 words that sparked Boris Johnson’s downfall
They were the 12 words that ultimately brought down a prime minister and if Boris Johnson didn’t know it then, he will almost certainly know it now.
At 12.28pm on Wednesday, December 8 2021, the then-prime minister stood at the dispatch box at Prime Minister’s Questions to answer a question from Labour MP Catherine West, eight days after the first reports of Downing Street gatherings emerged.
He stood up calmly, placing his notes on the historic despatch box, telling her firmly, “no,” before adding, “the guidance was followed and the rules were followed at all times”.
My colleague Archie Mitchell reports:
Uxbridge, Mid-Bedfordshire and Selby by-elections: Key numbers
The Conservatives are facing the prospect of fighting three by-elections at the same time – but against parties with differing chances of success.
Here are the key electoral statistics for the constituencies of Uxbridge & South Ruislip, Mid-Bedfordshire and Selby & Ainsty, together with what Labour or the Liberal Democrats would need to do to take the seats from the Tories.
Ian Jones writes:
ICYMI: Boris Johnson ‘pushed Sunak to knight father Stanley’ in crunch meeting with PM
Boris Johnson is said to have pressed for his father Stanley to be given a knighthood during his crunch talks with Rishi Sunak on his honour list.
The former prime minister told his successor his dad should be honoured for his work for the Conservatives and the environment, according to The Times.
Frustrated at his father being cut from the list, Mr Johnson is said to have argued that it was customary for family members to be recognised in a PM’s resignation honours.
But No 10 is said to have worried about how handing Stanley Johnson a knighthood would be perceived. A government source told the newspaper: “It just would have looked terrible.”
My colleague Adam Forrest reports:
Sunak hits back at Nadine Dorries as he denies believing only posh boys should be Lords
Ms Dorries has claimed she resigned as an MP after being “bullied” by No 10 and accused the prime minister of “duplicitously and cruelly” blocking her from getting a peerage.
“I’m broken-hearted, not just for me but for everyone who comes from a background like mine,” she said.
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