✕ClosePrivileges Committee finds Boris Johnson misled Parliament
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Boris Johnson has been accused of committing a “clear breach” of the rules for failing to follow protocol ahead of announcing his new columnist role at the Daily Mail.
The former prime minister was confirmed as the newspaper’s new “erudite” columnist on Friday, just days after quitting as an MP. Former ministers who have left the government in the last two years must apply to the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) before taking up a new appointment or role outside government.
However, Acoba said Mr Johnson only informed them half an hour before the public announcement.
“An application received 30 mins before an appointment is announced is a clear breach,” a spokesperson said. “We have written to Mr Johnson for an explanation and will publish correspondence in due course, in line with our policy of transparency.”
Mr Johnson’s latest infraction in rules comes after a cross-party committee of MPs found he repeatedly lied to Parliament before being complicit in a campaign of abuse and intimidation.
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Boris Johnson report in full: Read all 30,000 words of Partygate committee findings
The long-awaited investigation by MPs on the privileges committee into whether Boris Johnson lied to parliament over the Partygate scandal has finally been published.
The findings come more than a year after the inquiry was first commissioned by the former prime minister, in a move which failed to prevent his unceremonious ousting from Downing Street less than three months later, swiftly followed by that of his immediate successor.
Despite Mr Johnson dramatically stepping down as an MP days before the 30,000-word report was published, thereby averting the risk of an embarrasing by-election triggered by its findings, the former PM still saw to it that the document arrived in a haze of controversy.
In full: Read all 30,000 words of the Boris Johnson Partygate inquiry
Damning report finally arrives in haze of fresh controversy stoked by former prime minister
Joe Middleton16 June 2023 07:001686896793
‘An absolute disgrace'
It is an “absolute disgrace” that the Privileges Committee threatened MPs who criticised its report on Boris Johnson, the former chairman of the Conservative Party has said, accusing the panel of seeking to “gag MPs”.
Sir Jake Berry, an ally of the former prime minister, told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “For the first time in my parliamentary career, I’m afraid to talk about a report or the findings of a committee of Parliament, because they have threatened MPs that if they do so, they themselves will be subject to the sorts of sanctions.
“It’s an attack on free speech. It’s an absolute disgrace and it rather begs the question that if the committee is so certain and so happy with their findings, why are they trying to stop any debate on this, to gag MPs and prevent them talking about it.”
He said he was “almost certain that Parliament will vote in favour” of the report on Monday, but that he will “certainly be one of those in the no lobby opposing this report, because I think both the conclusions and, to some extent, the way the committee was made up in terms of this report are wrong.”
Maryam Zakir-Hussain16 June 2023 07:261686898382
Telling the truth is a ‘central value of our democratic system'
Former Chair of the Committee of Standards in Public Life Sir Alistair Graham reiterates the importance of telling the truth being a “central value of our democratic system”.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain16 June 2023 07:531686898882
Watch: Liz Truss believes in former boss’s political comeback
Former prime minister Liz Truss has said she is sure we “will hear more from” Boris Johnson as she said “never ever ever write Boris off”.
'Never write Boris off': Liz Truss believes in former boss's political comebackMaryam Zakir-Hussain16 June 2023 08:011686899533
I’m the woman who asked Boris the question that brought him down – I’m still angry and heartbroken
When he discovered he was going to face the consequences of his actions, Johnson lashed out. His behaviour fails to uphold the best traditions of our parliament, writes Catherine West.
Those dark days of the pandemic took a huge toll on so many. The loss of loved ones, missing the birth of a child or the funeral of a friend, the unbearable stress placed on key workers, the closed businesses, and health effects that linger for many to this day. Faced with such an unprecedented health emergency the British people did what they had to do – they stayed at home and followed the rules, often at great personal sacrifice.
Not Boris Johnson.
While the country hunkered down for the greater good, it’s now confirmed that he oversaw a Downing Street culture which repeatedly breached the same Covid rules they set. When allegations came to light that there had been parties in Downing Street, I asked the then prime minister, clearly and specifically, if he could tell the House if there had been a party in No 10 on 13 November.
“No, but I am sure that whatever happened the guidance was followed, and the rules were followed at all times.” That’s how the prime minister – from the despatch box, in front of a full House of Commons – answered my clear question.
I’m the woman who asked the question that brought down Boris Johnson | Boris Johnson
When he discovered he was going to face the consequences of his actions, Johnson lashed out. His behaviour fails to uphold the best traditions of our parliament, writes Catherine West
Maryam Zakir-Hussain16 June 2023 08:121686900126
Boris ‘deserves further punishment’- Sir Ed Davey
Boris Johnson “deserves further punishment” following the Privileges Committee report that found he lied to MPs, the leader of the Liberal Democrats has said.
Sir Ed Davey told Sky News: “I think now we look to the Prime Minister to show some leadership. Rishi Sunak has been quite weak on this. He’s kowtowed to his backbenchers and people in the Conservative Party who still won’t face the facts about Boris Johnson, and Rishi Sunak should therefore withdraw this lifetime allowance.
“Boris Johnson will be paid £115,000 a year for the rest of his life to organise his offices. I mean, I just don’t think that sits alongside this report. He deserves further punishment, for sure.”
Sir Ed also said Mr Sunak’s potential absence from the Commons vote on the committee’s findings on Monday “confirms yet again his weakness” and “would be a massive failure if he doesn’t join Parliament in holding the former prime minister Boris Johnson to account”.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain16 June 2023 08:221686901114
Labour launches new attack ad against Sunak
Labour has launched a new attack ad against the prime minister, claiming that “whatever he pretends now, Rishi Sunak was Boris Johnson’s enabler”.
The party claims Mr Sunak “defended Mr Johnson’s lies and stood by him while he held the British public in contempt”.
The ad features a highlight reel of the prime minister’s public praise for his predecessor, including the claim Mr Johnon is “one of the most remarkable people I have ever met”.
“Britain won’t forget Rishi Sunak’s loyalty to a man who disgraced the office of prime minister,” the ad claims.
It also attacks Mr Sunak as “weak” for failing to scrap Mr Johnson’s resignation honours list, which Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called “honours for Tory cronies”.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain16 June 2023 08:381686901550
The 7 most damning findings from the report into Boris Johnson misleading parliament
A damning report by parliament’s privileges committee has concluded that Boris Johnson misled parliament and recommended that he should be barred from having a parliamentary security pass in future.
The 106 page document, put together by the cross-party group of MPs with a Tory majority, is packed with detail and arguments. Here are the seven most damning sections:
The 7 most damning findings from the report into Boris Johnson misleading parliament
The privileges committee report is packed with detailed criticism of the former prime minister
Maryam Zakir-Hussain16 June 2023 08:451686902101
Boris Johnson supporters vow to target Tory members endorsing report for deselection
Boris Johnson allies have vowed they will target Conservative members who endorse the Privileges Committee’s report for deselection.
Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries was among the first to condemn the report, calling it “quite bizarre”.
She warned that any Tory MPs who endorsed the Privileges Committee’s report on Monday were not “true Conservatives” and would be “held to account by members and the public”.
“Deselections may follow. It’s serious,” she said.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain16 June 2023 08:551686902336
Boris Johnson rumoured to be Daily Mail’s ‘erudite’ new columnist
Boris Johnson is rumoured to be unveiled as the Daily Mail’s “erudite” new columnist days after quitting as an MP.
The disgraced former prime minister is believed to be the blacked out silhouette on the paper’s front page who will write for it weekly starting tomorrow.
The Mail promises Mr Johnson’s column will be “required reading” in Westminster and around the world. It is paying a “very high six-figure sum”, Politico reported.
It would be a big step up from the former PM’s £275,000 salary as a columnist for the Daily Telegraph.
Mr Johnson is expected to take swipes at his successor Rishi Sunak, with the relationship between the two having descended into open warfare last week.
In a row over the former PM’s resignation honours list, Mr Johnson publicly accused his successor of “talking rubbish”.
Mr Sunak has denied “wielding the dagger” against Mr Johnson with his resignation as chancellor last July, a move which was seen as the beginning of the end of Mr Johnson’s premiership. He resigned just two days later.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain16 June 2023 08:58
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