Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will fight for his political future on Wednesday before a commission that will scrutinize his lies during the Partygate crisis, those Downing Street parties amid a pandemic.
• Also read: On the eve of a crucial hearing, Boris Johnson pleads good faith in ‘Partygate’
• Also read: Boris Johnson wants to ennoble his father Stanley Johnson
• Also read: UK: the return of Liz Truss and Boris Johnson
During a televised hearing that begins early afternoon and can last four hours, the 58-year-old former Conservative government leader will attempt to extricate himself from the scandal that cost him his post in July and has involved the Kingdom of United in months of political instability.
“An optimistic Boris ready to fight,” headlined The Chron on Wednesday, while The Guardian noted that the former PM was “playing for his political survival”.
If he finds himself in his favored position, at the center of media and political attention, the thundering leader, now a humble MP who will take an oath on the Bible before testifying, will be able to avoid sanction that would destroy all hope of a return to the top of British political life?
The parliamentary committee, accused of starting a witch hunt by Johnson’s supporters, is having to determine whether it willfully lied in the House of Commons, particularly when it claimed before MPs in December 2021 that Downing “the rules have been obeyed all along” . street during the pandemic.
‘Partygate’, those months-long revelations about watered down Downing Street parties during a particularly tight UK lockdown, had angered Brits who had denounced an intolerable ‘double standard’.
In a 110-page document released on Wednesday morning, the Commission traces Boris Johnson’s official statements and what happened at the time at Downing Street, with supporting photos and witness statements.
In May 2020, for example, Mr Johnson encouraged “the whole country to play by the rules” but attended a garden party in Downing Street Gardens a few days later. On June 10, he “urges everyone to continue to exercise restraint and respect the rules” and on June 19 attends a birthday party organized for him by his wife Carrie.
And in November 2020, attending a small party, still at Downing Street, he quipped that “it’s probably the most disrespectful social distancing gathering in the whole of the UK”.
According to a Downing Street worker, Boris Johnson “had an opportunity to end these gatherings” but “to continue these behaviours”.
If the commission, which has obtained written evidence from 23 people, finds he lied, Boris Johnson risks losing his MP, jeopardizing the rest of his political career and his hopes of returning to Downing Street.
MPs will vote on any penalties he may face, including a suspension which, if exceeded 10 days, could trigger a by-election in his constituency where his majority is close.
Boris Johnson admitted lying to the Commission by denying the existence of these parties and then ensuring they had complied with anti-Covid rules, but pleaded good faith in a 52-page document released on Tuesday where he is pointing the finger at his principal advisers.
However, one of them, Martin Reynolds, had recommended not telling Parliament that the rules had always been respected because, according to his statement received by the Commission, he did not consider this to be “realistic”.
These arguments have inflamed the anger of the families of the victims of the pandemic. For bereaved families for justice, “it is clear that Boris Johnson deliberately misled Parliament”. The company describes the fact that he claims to have acted in good faith as “disgusting”.
In a preliminary report in early March, the commission indicated that the elements collected “strongly suggest” that the breaches of anti-Covid rules must have been “obvious” to Boris Johnson.
He resigned in July, ousted by a revolt within his government. However, Boris Johnson attempted a comeback in late October when his short-lived successor, Liz Truss, left Downing Street.