Boris Johnson was warned not to claim he stuck by Covid rules – he did it anyway

Boris Johnson deliberately misled parliament over the Downing St parties scandal, a committee of MPs has found, rejecting his ­central defence.

bORIS jOHNSON has Rejected the findings of the committee. picture: AFP

Boris Johnson deliberately misled parliament over the Downing St parties scandal, a committee of MPs has found, rejecting his ­central defence.

The former British prime minister claimed he was advised by senior officials that Covid rules and guidance had been complied with at all times in No. 10 during the pandemic.

But the parliamentary committee investigating Mr Johnson has concluded that officials did not ­advise him that social-distancing guidelines had been followed, ­despite him repeatedly making the claim in the House of Commons. One of his most senior officials in fact warned him against making such a claim on the basis it was “unrealistic”.

The committee of seven MPs, which includes four Tories, also found that Mr Johnson was misleading during a public hearing with the committee at which he claimed that leaving drinks he ­attended without social distancing were in line with Covid guidance.

Mr Johnson formally quit as a Tory MP on Monday before the ­report’s publication on Tuesday. He has accused the committee of mounting a “witch-hunt” and ­behaving like a “kangaroo court”.

The committee’s report will state that Mr Johnson would have been sanctioned with a suspension of more than 10 days, enough to trigger a by-election. It is also ­expected to state that criticism of the committee should be considered contempt of parliament after Mr Johnson and his allies repeatedly castigated members over the ­investigation. They were offered increased security after being ­inundated with messages from Mr Johnson’s supporters.

Boris Johnson during question time in May last year when he was still prime minister. Picture: AFP

The former prime minister has already rejected the findings of the committee, which were sent to him last week. In his 1000-word resignation statement on Friday he accused the committee of “egregious bias” and said it was carrying out a “political hit-job”.

He also escalated his war of words with Rishi Sunak over his resignation honours list, accusing the Prime Minister on Monday of “talking rubbish”.

Mr Sunak suggested Mr Johnson had asked him to bend the rules by over-ruling the House of Lords Appointments Commission (Holac) and giving four Tory MPs peerages. “Boris Johnson asked me to do something that I wasn’t prepared to do, because I didn’t think it was right,” Mr Sunak said. Mr Johnson said: “Rishi Sunak is talking rubbish. To honour these peerages it was not necessary to overrule Holac but simply to ask them to renew their vetting, which was a mere formality.”

The Times understands Mr Johnson also pressed Mr Sunak to give his father a knighthood after he was cut from the resignation honours list. No. 10 was said to be concerned that allowing Mr Johnson to elevate his father would carry significant reputational risk.

A spokesman for Mr Johnson declined to comment. A No. 10 source insisted Downing St had not intervened to remove Stanley Johnson from the honours list.

Mr Johnson’s defence against the claims that he misled parliament when he said that Covid guidance and rules had been followed “at all times” centred on his assertion that he had been given “repeated assurances” they had.

However, Jack Doyle, his former director of communications, appeared to contradict the claim in written evidence to the committee. “Don’t think I advised the PM to say that – I mean that the socially distancing guidelines – to say they were followed completely, they are difficult things to say,” Mr Doyle said.

Martin Reynolds, Mr Johnson’s principal private secretary at the time, advised him in December 2021 that he should remove a claim from a statement to the Commons that “all guidance had been followed at all times”.

The Times