IF HE LIED, HE HAS TO GO
Raab admits clock is ticking for Boris
DOMINIC Raab has said a prime minister found to have deliberately lied to Parliament would “normally” resign.
The comments come after the PM’s former chief aide Dominic Cummings accused Boris Johnson of misleading MPs last week over a drinks party held in the Downing Street garden in lockdown.
But Mr Raab said his boss had “made clear” he hadn’t known about the event in advance.
He believes the PM will stay in power “for many years” but with most in Britain believing the PM is a lifelong fibber, Mr Raab’s comments seemed to confirm Boris will be forced to quit within days.
In his blog, Mr Cummings, who was still working in No10 at the time of the drinks party, on 20 May 2020, said Boris had been warned of it and told that it would break COVID rules.
He added that he had tried to persuade Mr Johnson to stop the gathering but he had “waved it aside”.
Two other former No10 officials told the BBC they remembered Mr Cummings telling them that day he had warned the prime minister not to go ahead.
The blog contradicts the account the prime minister gave to Parliament last week, in which he said he had not been notified in advance of the party, attended by around 30 people and to which around 100 were invited.
The PM also said he had been working in No10 when the drinks happened and had joined staff for 25 minutes to thank them for their efforts.
Deputy PM Raab said Mr Cummings’ and Mr Johnson’s accounts were “irreconcilable” but the prime minister and No 10 had “made clear” he thought the drinks to be a work event.
Quit
Asked whether any minister who lied to the House of Commons and failed to correct their remarks should resign, he replied: “Yes.”
And asked later on BBC Radio 4’s Today whether a PM who had been found to have lied to Parliament should quit, he said: “He would normally, if it’s not corrected, if it’s lying, and deliberate...if it’s not corrected immediately, it would normally, under the ministerial code and the governance around Parliament, be a resigning matter. “That is the principle. “We uphold the highest standards of principles in public life. That is critically important.”
The ministerial code that governs standards of behaviour in office, states: “Ministers who knowingly mislead Parliament will be expected to offer their resignation to the prime minister.”
Asked about how safe Mr Johnson was as prime minister, Mr Raab replied: “I’m confident he will carry on for many years and into the next election.”