Tories in battle to stop Partygate ‘witch hunt’
... after panel led by Harman raises threat of by-election
SeNIOR Tories have fought back against the Partygate ‘witch hunt’ of Boris Johnson with a motion calling for the Commons inquiry to be scrapped.
MPs including former leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said the probe by the privileges committee was ‘unnecessary’ after the Prime Minister’s resignation and should be ‘discontinued’.
They have tabled a motion in Parliament. Mr Johnson’s allies claim the inquiry has moved to stricter terms, which could lead to him being booted out as an MP if he is found to have misled Parliament.
That applies even if he unintentionally misled the house. The inquiry was sparked after the Metropolitan Police investigation into lockdown gatherings in Downing Street during Covid.
Mr Johnson was fined for attending what was considered to be a birthday party in the Cabinet Room in June 2020.
If the group of seven MPs on the committee finds that he was in contempt, he could be suspended from Parliament. If the punishment is more than ten days’ suspented’.
‘An affront to natural justice’
sion, he is open to recall, which could lead to a by-election in his west London constituency. But Mr Johnson’s supporters say the committee had ‘moved the goalposts’ and labelled the probe a ‘witch hunt against one of the most successful politicians of our time’.
The motion from backers of the PM, laid before the Commons on Thursday, ‘expresses concern with the publication of the report by the privileges committee’ and ‘notes the divergence from the established convention’. The inquiry is ‘ now unnecessary and should be rescinded’, it said, imploring ‘ the proceedings of the privileges committee be discontinued’.
Sir Bill Cash, a Conservative MP since 1984, who tabled the motion, said: ‘It is really quite extraordinary and unacceptable. What they’ve done is inconsistent with the general law of Parliament.
‘I believe these proceedings should be discontinued. There is also a strong case for the chair harriet harman to recuse herself.’ Tory MP David Jones said: ‘It is an affront to natural justice. The committee is saying that if you make an innocent mistake you can be found in contempt.’
A further Tory MP said: ‘I think you’ve got a bunch of MPs who can’t stand Boris, even on the Tory side. They want to get him one way or another.’
Mr Johnson has already apologised for ‘unintentionally’ misleading Parliament, and corrected the record to say lockdown rules were breached. But the privileges committee said they have been advised by the Clerk of the Journals, who is in charge of parliamentary procedure, that ‘intention is not necessary for a contempt to be commitQuestions have been raised over the independence of the committee as its chairman, former Blairite minister harriet harman, has repeatedly said Mr Johnson misled the Commons.
The veteran Labour MP reposted a blog by former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell which said the PM and Rishi Sunak ‘broke their own emergency laws.
They lied. Repeatedly. They trashed the ministerial code.’
The committee has also been criticised for the fervour of its investigation. It requested a visit to No 10 to see the site of the parties, in what one Johnson ally compared to a jury investigating a crime scene.
It has also asked for email invites, No 10 entry logs, Mr Johnson’s diaries and WhatsApp messages. The inquiry comes against a backdrop of growing unrest among the Tory grassroots that MPs have removed a proven vote-winner in Mr Johnson. Yesterday the number of Conservative Tory members signing a petition demanding a vote on the Prime Minister’s removal reached 7,000 – or five per cent of the total membership.