'Boris Johnson’s reaction was typical of his character'

MP for Ellesmere Port

WHEN a Member of Parliament is accused of ‘lying’ in the House of Commons, we are talking about a truly serious accusation.

Because use of the word ‘lie’ has long been frowned upon and will not normally be tolerated by the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle.

To mislead the House in an inadvertent manner is acceptable provided an effort is made to ‘correct the record’ at the first available opportunity. However, to mislead deliberately can be viewed as a contempt.

When it comes to the former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the Committee of Privileges concluded he had misled the Commons on five counts: 1, When he alleged that COVID-19 guidance was followed; 2, When he failed to tell the House about his knowledge of gatherings in and around 10 Downing Street; 3, Over his claim that he was assured rules had not been broken; 4, By using the ‘Partygate’ investigation by former leading civil servant Sue Gray to delay relevant responses and, finally, 5, over his failure to correct the record.

The media referred to a penalty anything longer than a suspension from the Commons for 10 working days or more as being serious because that would be enough to enable a petition to be raised in the ex-PM’s now former Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency of electors calling for a by-election to be held.In resigning before he was pushed Boris Johnson spared the committee the bother of imposing their punishment, but we now know members had in mind a sanction of 90 working days away from Westminster. That is just how serious the committee, with its in-built Conservative majority, felt about the way Boris Johnson had conducted himself.

Boris Johnson’s reaction was typical of his character. Of the vastly experienced Right Hon Harriet Harman KC MP, the so-called Mother of the House who chaired the Privileges Committee, he said: “It is very sad to be leaving Parliament – at least for now – but above all I am bewildered and appalled that I can be forced out, anti-democratically, by a committee chaired and managed, by Harriet Harman, with such egregious bias.” This glosses over the fact that he and the Conservative Party had ample opportunity to object to the committee’s composition, which had four Conservative MPs, two Labour and one SNP MP on it. It can hardly be called a “kangaroo court”.

His response shows he has no respect for Parliament and its long-established institutions and he has viewed with utter contempt the legitimate examination of his repeated lying to Parliament. At the same time as this, video evidence of ‘Partygate’ frolics at Conservative Party HQ has been revealed for all to see, proving that whilst the rest of the country were making huge sacrifices to follow the rules, elements of the Conservative Party were flouting them. Fortunately there was a large majority in favour of supporting the privileges committee report although over 200 Conservative MPs including the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, found they had something on and decided not to vote on the report at all. That’s not the Leadership we need.

On a more positive note, hearty congratulations go to British Empire Medal recipients Laura Newton-Harris, 39, and her wife Terasa Newton-Harris who – as joint owners of community art space The Boaty Theatre Company in Ellesmere Port – have been recognised for their "service to the community" in the King’s Birthday Honours list for 2023. Recognition is well deserved.