LONDON (Reuters) – British former prime minister Boris Johnson deliberately misled parliament about illegal parties held at his Downing Street office during COVID-19 lockdowns, a committee of lawmakers said on Thursday after rejecting his central defence.
Johnson quit as a member of parliament last week before the report’s publication. He has accused the privileges committee, a parliamentary standards body that has investigated Johnson, of mounting a “witch-hunt” and behaving like a “kangaroo court”.
The former prime minister said it was a lie to say he deliberately misled parliament and called the report a charade.
Below are the main findings from the report into Johnson’s behaviour:
JOHNSON DELIBERATELY MISLED PARLIAMENT
The committee said: “We conclude that when he told the House and this Committee that the rules and guidance were being complied with, his own knowledge was such that he deliberately misled the House and this Committee.”
JOHNSON WOULD HAVE FACED A 90-DAY SUSPENSION FROM PARLIAMENT
The Committee said it would have recommended a suspension of 90 days from the House of Commons for Johnson if he had not resigned.
The committee said: “if he had not resigned his seat, we would have recommended that he be suspended from the service of the House for 90 days for repeated contempts and for seeking to undermine the parliamentary process”.
UNPRECEDENTED BEHAVIOUR FROM A PRIME MINISTER
The committee said: “We have concluded above that in deliberately misleading the House Mr Johnson committed a serious contempt. The contempt was all the more serious because it was committed by the Prime Minister, the most senior member of the government. There is no precedent for a Prime Minister having been found to have deliberately misled the House.”
JOHNSON SHOULD BE DENIED PARLIAMENT PASS
Former members of parliament are normally entitled to a pass that gives them access to parliamentary estate.
The committee said: “In view of the fact that Mr Johnson is no longer a member, we recommend that he should not be granted a former member’s pass.”
(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill; editing by William James)
