- By Sam Francis
- Political Reporter, BBC News
March 3, 2023 at 12:50 p.m. GMT
Updated 1 hour ago
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Boris Johnson: I didn’t mislead MPs about lockdown parties
MPs have said Boris Johnson may have misled Parliament on several occasions about Partygate – but the former Prime Minister insists he is vindicated by her report.
The Privileges Committee said it had seen evidence that “strongly suggests” breaches of the Covid rules would have been “obvious” to Mr Johnson.
But Mr Johnson said he has never “knowingly or recklessly” misled MPs about lockdown gatherings at Downing Street.
And he said he was confident he would be acquitted by the committee.
He is scheduled to testify before the committee later this month.
In a first report released on Friday, MPs highlighted how he may have misled Parliament.
This includes a statement dated December 8, 2021 that no rules or guidelines were violated in number 10.
Mr Johnson told BBC News he did not “know or suspect” events were breaking the rules when speaking about them in the House of Commons.
He added that “after 10 months of efforts,” the committee had presented no evidence “suggesting otherwise.”
“I haven’t misled the house, and I don’t think I’ve sinned. I think this process will happily justify me,” he said.
WhatsApp messages exposed
The committee has released excerpts from a number of WhatsApp messages it received as part of its investigation.
In an April 28, 2021, seven months before press reports of parties first appeared, an unnamed No. 10 Official noted that another official was “concerned about leaks from Prime Ministers pissing themselves and to be fair , I don’t think it’s unjustified”.
In another, as of January 25, 2022, Mr Johnson’s then communications director, Jack Doyle, told a No10 official that he had “heard no explanation” of how a birthday celebration for the former Prime Minister was taking place in the Cabinet Room in June 2020 Rules.
In a separate WhatsApp exchange on the same day, an official wrote to Mr Doyle and said: “I’m trying to ask some questions and answers [briefing for officials dealing with the media queries]it’s not going well”.
Mr Doyle replied: “I’m struggling to find a way of putting this in the rules in my head,” adding: “PM obviously ate his lunch.”
The officer replied, “I meant something for the police, but yeah, ridiculous as the cake thing is, it’s difficult.”
The official then suggested they could argue that this was “reasonably necessary for work purposes”.
Mr Doyle replied: “I’m not sure one works, am I? He’s also blowing another big gaping hole in the Prime Minister’s account, isn’t he?”
Image source, Cabinet Office
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Boris Johnson celebrates his birthday – for which he was fined – in a previously unseen image released by the committee
In May last year, an inquiry by senior official Sue Gray found widespread rule breaking had taken place and Mr Johnson was among 83 people fined by police for attending unlawful events.
The Privileges Committee said it would consider Ms Gray’s findings.
It emerged this week that Ms Gray has left the civil service to become Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, prompting claims from Tory MPs that she is politically biased.
Mr Johnson said it raised questions about the conclusions of their investigation.
“I think maybe people will see it in a different light,” he told BBC News.
He added that if “you had told me all the stuff that I know now,” he “may have questioned her more closely about her independence.”
He added it was “surreal” that MPs investigating whether he misled Parliament about Partygate planned to consider their investigation.
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Sir Keir Starmer: The evidence of Mr Johnson’s wrongdoing is ‘already quite damning’.
If Mr Johnson is found to have misled Parliament, he could be suspended or expelled as MP, which would lead to a by-election.
But the committee’s findings and any sanction against Mr Johnson would have to be approved by a vote in Parliament.
Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer said the “evidence of Boris Johnson’s wrongdoing is already quite damning”.
“I think Boris Johnson has to face the evidence that is in front of him,” he said.
Sir Keir accused Rishi Sunak of “sitting on his hands” with the investigation.
Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper accused Mr Johnson of trying to “squirm” out of the committee’s “damn” questions.