British MPs, who concluded that former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson lied to parliament over the “Partygate” affair, on Thursday denounced “coordinated” and “unprecedented” pressure from relatives of the former Conservative leader.
In mid-June, the Privileges Commission estimated in a 106-page report that Boris Johnson had “misled the House of Commons” by repeatedly denying the Downing Street party scandal.
In a supplementary report published on Thursday, the Commission denounced the “pressure” being exerted on its Conservative MPs.
It belittles the “apparent intent” to keep these members away from the Commission and to obstruct the investigation or prevent it from reaching a conclusion contrary to what they wanted.
The report also mentions “continued attempts to undermine or question the impartiality of the chairman” of the Harriet Harman Commission.
“This unprecedented and coordinated pressure did not affect the conduct or outcome of the investigation,” the commission points out, but had “a significant impact” on members and raised “significant security concerns”.
This disciplinary body has also expressed concerns that such measures could discourage certain MEPs from joining it.
“Freedom of expression is at the heart of parliamentary democracy,” but “Members who, during an ongoing investigation involving individual conduct, attack the honesty and integrity of the commission or attack the process itself in a way that clearly aims to to discredit the Commission.” call into question or discourage a particular outcome from unreasonably undermining any disciplinary process established by the Chamber.
In the appendix, the report lists tweets and remarks from people close to Boris Johnson, notably former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, who unconditionally supported “BoJo,” and Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, who, among other things, described the “puppet court” commission .
MEPs approved the Commission’s conclusions on June 20 and banned Boris Johnson from Parliament.
Even before the official publication of his report, the former prime minister had taken the lead and resigned his post as deputy because he denounced a “witch hunt”. He had denounced a “political assassination”.