Be brave and scrap the Partygate ‘witch-hunt’ minister urges Truss
NADINE Dorries has called on Liz Truss to ‘show how brave she is’ by scrapping the Partygate inquiry into Boris Johnson if she becomes prime minister.
The Culture Secretary said the ‘witch-hunt’ should end because it was motivated by a wish for vengeance from ‘Remainer MPs’.
She said they wanted to ‘nail the lid down on the Prime Minister’s coffin’, adding: ‘They don’t want Boris gone, they want him dead.’
The process, which is being conducted by the Commons privileges committee, was sparked by a police investigation into lockdown gatherings in Downing Street.
Officers fined Mr Johnson, alongside dozens of other rulebreakers, for attending a birthday party in the Cabinet Room in June 2020, leading to claims he misled the Commons. If he is found to be in contempt, he could be suspended from Parliament and face a recall petition in his marginal west London constituency.
The Prime Minister’s allies labelled the process a ‘Kafkaesque impeachment’, and accused the committee of moving the goalposts after ruling Mr Johnson could be found in contempt, even if he misled the House by mistake.
Legal advice obtained by The Mail on Sunday revealed concern in Westminster that the inquiry will lead to ‘paralysis’ for ministers, who will clam up in Parliament for fear of being held in contempt.
Mrs Dorries said: ‘Liz Truss and the new chief whip should make it their first job to lay a motion in the House to overturn this inquiry. She’s going to have to show in her first days how brave she is. The MPs who support Boris John son will be furious if it doesn’t happen. This inquiry is motivated by the opposition who want to nail the lid down on the Prime Minister’s coffin.’
Miss Truss has said she would vote to scrap the investigation into whether Mr Johnson lied over Partygate. But she added that ‘ there isn’t a vote and it’s going ahead’, suggesting she was unwilling to intervene. The Foreign Secretary’s support for Mr Johnson at Tory leadership race events contrasts with her opponent Rishi Sunak, whose resignation from the Treasury sparked an exodus of ministers that made the PM’s position untenable.
Her loyalty may also reflect the fact she was quickly backed for the leadership by the Prime Minister’s inner circle, including Brexit opportunities minister Jacob Rees-Mogg.
It is thought the inquiry, which is expected to consider hundreds of pages of evidence and dozens of witnesses, could run into the new year.
Labour MP Chris Bryant, who recused himself as chairman of the privileges committee, said a bid to stop the probe would be a ‘risky strategy’. He added: ‘Tory MPs might absent themselves, then Liz Truss opens herself up to the charge that she is just like Boris Johnson – in that she tears up the rules to protect her allies.’