A robust defence, and most he’s ever written without cracking a joke! JASON GROVES dissects Boris Johnson’s 52-page dossier of defiance over Partygate

For a few hours this afternoon, Parliament’s Grimond Room will be taken back in time to one of the most difficult periods in recent British history.

For the purposes of the privileges committee grilling, Boris Johnson will be back as prime minister, discussing Covid rules and the so-called lockdown parties in No 10 that triggered his downfall.

Mr Johnson will be in a sober mood, having spent weeks rehearsing his defence with his legal team.

Yesterday’s 52-page defence dossier may well be the longest thing he has ever written without cracking a joke.

His inquisitors, led by Labour’s former deputy leader Harriet Harman, are ready for him.

Boris Johnson accepts that Parliament was misled by his claim that the regulations were followed at all times. But he sets out detailed evidence to back his insistence that the statements were made ‘in good faith’

In an interim report this month they all but declared him guilty saying it should have been ‘obvious’ to him that Covid rules had been breached.

Yesterday’s submission makes a solid case for the defence. He accepts that Parliament was misled by his claim that the regulations were followed at all times. But he sets out detailed evidence to back his insistence that the statements were made ‘in good faith’.

It includes messages from senior advisers assuring him that ‘no rules were broken’ at various lockdown gatherings being reported by the media.

It also shows he took steps to establish the facts. And it puts the events in some context. Yes, he says, social distancing guidelines might have occasionally been stretched, but Downing Street is a ‘cramped London townhouse’, which was filled with people cheek by jowl all day as they worked round the clock on Covid.

None of the two dozen witnesses interviewed by the committee believed rules were being broken.

And, crucially, he points out that, despite an extraordinary ten-month investigation, with access to thousands of documents, the committee has failed to produce a smoking gun showing he was told that his statements to Parliament were untrue.

Were he facing a criminal charge, where the burden of proof is ‘beyond reasonable doubt’, Mr Johnson might be feeling optimistic about escaping censure, even with this committee sitting in judgment. But the committee has already stated that it will judge Mr Johnson’s case on the ‘balance of probabilities’.

That is a low bar for a decision that could have a major impact on the future career of one of the most consequential politicians of recent years.

Johnson’s inquisitors, led by Labour’s former deputy leader Harriet Harman, are ready for him

It has lowered the bar even further by deciding that the former PM could be found guilty of contempt if he is considered to have been ‘reckless’ about the risk his statements could have misled MPs. The test is significantly lower than proving he was guilty of deliberately misleading Parliament, which is the usual measure.

But if the committee appears to be a lost cause, there are other audiences for Mr Johnson today. Polling suggests he still suffers a significant trust deficit with the public.

Most voters have already made up their minds about Partygate and, unlike the denizens of Westminster, many moved on long ago.

But insofar as people are paying attention, there is an opportunity for Mr Johnson to put the events of the Partygate row into proper context and perhaps start changing some minds.

Most importantly, for his immediate future, is the audience of Conservative MPs who may yet help determine his fate. Whatever sanction the privileges committee eventually recommends will ultimately have to be approved by Parliament before it can come into force. If Mr Johnson can convince his own colleagues that he is being unfairly treated by a partisan committee there is a chance they could yet block any obviously excessive punishment.

Downing Street yesterday said Rishi Sunak would be too busy to watch today’s hearing.

But that is not the whole story. In fact, No 10 has yet to decide how to handle the affair and will be watching intently to see what sort of account Mr Johnson gives of himself.

It would be stretching things to say he has everything to play for, as the committee looks to have already judged him guilty. But he still has something to fight for, and he appears to be up for the fight.

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