Boris Johnson could face being banned from the parliamentary estate after calling the Commons Partygate inquiry a ‘kangaroo court’
- Boris Johnson could be barred from parliamentary estate after his comments
- It comes after the former Prime Minister quit his latest role as an MP on Friday
- He quit after committee sent him a ‘warning letter’ over No10 covid gatherings
Boris Johnson could be barred from the parliamentary estate after describing a Commons inquiry into Partygate as a ‘kangaroo court’.
Members of the Commons privileges committee will meet this afternoon to finalise their report into allegations that he lied to Parliament over Partygate.
The report could be released as soon as today, after Mr Johnson resigned as an MP on Friday saying he was the victim of a ‘witch-hunt’.
He quit after the committee sent him a ‘warning letter’ which is thought to have confirmed it will find him guilty of lying when he told MPs no Covid rules were broken at No 10 gatherings.
The seven-strong committee is said to be considering fresh sanctions against him, which could include withholding the Commons pass given to most former MPs allowing them continued access to the parliamentary estate.
Mr Johnson quit after the committee sent him a ‘warning letter’ which is thought to have confirmed it will find him guilty of lying when he told MPs no Covid rules were broken at No 10 gatherings
The move could spell trouble for a number of prominent MPs, including Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, who said the committee’s proceedings ‘make kangaroo courts look respectable’
Former Commons Speaker John Bercow received a similar punishment following allegations of bullying.
The committee is also expected to consider sanctions against supporters of Mr Johnson who have publicly criticised its proceedings.
Allies of the former PM believe the committee – which is led by Labour’s former deputy leader Harriet Harman – is biased against him. All seven who decided Mr Johnson’s fate had made disparaging comments against him.
The move could spell trouble for a number of prominent MPs, including Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, who said the committee’s proceedings ‘make kangaroo courts look respectable’.
Guto Harri, Mr Johnson’s ex-communications director, said it was bizarre that the former PM could be hounded out by Miss Harman, who is a former acting Labour leader
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The former Tory leader has dramatically quit the House of Commons over Partygate and a row over his peerages list
The committee includes four Tories, but writing in The Mail on Sunday yesterday, Sir Jacob said they ‘ignored the politicking of the chairman and naively went along with her leadership’.
In his resignation statement on Friday, Mr Johnson said it had been ‘naive and trusting of me to think that these proceedings could be remotely useful or fair’. He denied lying to Parliament and said the committee had ‘wilfully chosen to ignore the truth’, adding: ‘Their purpose from the beginning has been to find me guilty, regardless of the facts.
‘This is the very definition of a kangaroo court.’
A Whitehall source said his comments were likely to be an ‘aggravating factor’ when the committee considers its verdict.
Guto Harri, Mr Johnson’s ex-communications director, said it was bizarre that the former PM could be hounded out by Miss Harman, who is a former acting Labour leader.
He told Sky News: ‘Can you imagine any Labour supporter being happy if someone like William Hague, say, had the fate of Keir Starmer in his hands when he was caught drinking beer and having curry with friends a long way from home in lockdown?
‘People will think, ‘Whoa, a committee led by the former Labour leader can hound Boris out of office when police found him guilty of one minor misdemeanour worth a 50 quid fine?’
At the weekend, the committee accused Mr Johnson of breaking the rules by effectively leaking its findings and questioning its integrity.
‘Mr Johnson has… impugned the integrity of the House by his statement,’ a spokesman said.
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