‘Complete nonsense': Boris Johnson grilled over Downing St ‘partygate’

Boris Johnson denounced questioning by MPs over Downing St’s Covid parties during grilling by a Commons committee that could decide his political fate.

Boris Johnson making his opening statement to the Parliamentary Privileges Committee hearing. Picture: AFP.

Former British PM Boris Johnson has denounced questioning by MPs over ‘partygate’ as “complete nonsense” during intense grilling by a House of Commons committee that could decide his political fate.

Mr Johnson became visibly annoyed when asked why he did not seek assurances from anyone beyond his communications advisers that Covid rules had been followed over holding parties in Downing St while the country was on lockdown.

Tory MP Bernard Jenkin told Mr Johnson: “I have to say, if I was accused of law-breaking and I had to give an undertaking to the House of Commons, of all places, that I had not broken the law, I would want the advice of a lawyer.”

Mr Johnson replied angrily: “This is nonsense. I mean, complete nonsense. I asked the relevant people and they were senior people.”

Opening the crunch hearing by the Privileges Committee, the ex-Conservative leader swore an oath on the Bible and declared that “hand on heart, I did not lie to the House”.

He insisted that everything he had told MPs regarding serial partying in 10 Downing Street, breaking the pandemic lockdown legislation he introduced, was done “in good faith and based on what I honestly believed at the time”.

“People who say that we were partying in lockdown, simply do not know what they are talking about,” Mr Johnson added, insisting that some gatherings should have been viewed as workplace meetings.

Boris Johnson was grilled by the Parliamentary Privileges Committee. Picture; AFP.

He also argued to the committee that leaving drinks at No 10 for his outgoing director of communications in November 2020 were “essential” because it might have been a “potentially acrimonious” moment.

“It was important for me to be there and to give reassurance,” he said. Mr Jenkin told him that the coronavirus guidance did not “say you can have a thank-you party”.

He said that it would be “unfair and wrong” to find him in contempt of parliament.

“If this Committee were to find me in contempt of parliament having come and done something so utterly insane and contrary to my beliefs and principles as to come here, to come to Parliament and wittingly lie, I think that would not only be unfair but I think it would be wrong,” he said.

Privileges committee chairwoman Harriet Harman said the hearing went to the “heart of our democracy”, because if MPs are wilfully misled by ministers, “we can’t do our job”.

Ms Harman is a veteran member of the Labour opposition party, dubbed the “Mother of the House” by dint of being the longest-serving woman in the Commons.

The rest of the seven-strong committee has a majority drawn from Johnson’s Conservative party.

Rejecting the contention of Johnson loyalists that the hearing amounted to a “kangaroo court”, Ms Harman said the MPs were acting only “in the interests of the House” and not from any partisan motivation.

Mr Johnson’s supporters insist he was betrayed by Conservative colleagues when he was forced out of office last year, and are campaigning for his return ahead of a general election likely next year.

But opinion polls suggest that he remains toxic for a large swathe of the electorate, and the hearing by the cross-party committee threatens to reopen old wounds just as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tries to heal Conservative fortunes.

If the committee decides that Mr Johnson lied to parliament about the partying, it could recommend his suspension from the House of Commons.

If the full House agrees to a suspension of more than 10 sitting days, that could trigger a special election for his northwest London seat, if enough voters demand one.

Interim report

This month, the committee found in an interim report that Johnson should have known the rules were being flouted on multiple occasions when he joined staff at boozy gatherings during the Covid lockdowns.

Hours before Wednesday’s televised hearing, it published a larger 110-page bundle of evidence.

It included a Downing Street official stating that Mr Johnson “often saw and joined” gatherings in the complex during lockdowns, and that “he had the opportunity to shut them down”.

“He could see what was happening and allowed the culture to continue,” the official added.

The evidence also showed Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, Britain’s most senior civil servant, denying he had ever assured Mr Johnson that Covid rules were followed at all times.

On Tuesday, Mr Johnson released his own 52-page dossier detailing his belief that he was truthful when he repeatedly told parliament that all regulations were respected.

In hindsight, he recognised that he did “mislead” MPs, but only inadvertently and based on assurances given by top aides that the rules were being followed.

MrvJohnson was fined by police for one gathering, along with Mr Sunak, his finance minister at the time. Dozens of other staff members also received fines.

The former leader apologised and corrected the parliamentary record last May after previously insisting to MPs that the gatherings were above board.

Mr Johnson said that correction came at the earliest opportunity – after London police and senior civil servant Sue Gray had concluded their own investigations.

Mr Johnson, 58, nearly died himself of Covid. But the campaign group Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK said his claim that he issued his Partygate denials “in good faith” was “sickening”.

With AFP