Absurd to sanction Boris over Partygate ‘mistake’, says Tory

THE committee investigating Boris Johnson over Partygate will not sanction him for inadvertently misleading the House of Commons, it was claimed yesterday.

sir Bernard Jenkin, the most senior Tory on the Privileges Committee, which is carrying out the probe, said it was ‘totally absurd’ to suggest the group would punish the former Prime Minister if he misled the House by mistake.

Mr Johnson is being investigated by the committee of seven MPs over claims he lied when he said no Covid rules were broken in Number 10.

He was later fined by the Metropolitan Police over a ‘birthday party’ in the Cabinet Room, one of 126 fines handed out to 83 individuals.

His supporters have rallied against the probe, accusing the investigating committee of running a ‘Kafkaesque kangaroo court’ and ‘moving the goalposts’.

Last week a bombshell document setting out legal advice by a top QC said the parliamentary inquiry would be declared unlawful were it not protected from challenge in the courts.

Lord Pannick labelled the process run by the committee as ‘unfair’ and ‘fundamentally flawed’, and said it risked having a chilling effect on ministers if they felt they could not speak freely to the House.

Yesterday sir Bernard told BBC Radio 4’s World At One: ‘The committee will give a full response in due course to Lord Pannick’s opinion.

‘But I would just say this: ask yourself, do you think it is possible that a committee could

‘I’m amazed I need to say this’

recommend a sanction against a member for inadvertently misleading the House?

‘Do you think the House of Commons would vote for that? I’m amazed I need to say this. It is totally absurd.

‘The idea that we’ve moved the goalposts or changed anything, there is no evidence of that, and I’m quite certain the committee will be able to respond positively to Lord Pannick’s opinion.’

The Tory MP, a former ally of Mr Johnson, has previously blasted the ‘terrorist campaign’ to discredit the investigation, pointing at fellow Conservatives who he claimed had mounted a ‘publicity campaign’ to undermine the inquiry.

In the latest twist in the saga, Mr Johnson recommended his supporter sir Christopher Chope to replace Laura Farris, who stepped down this summer, on the committee in one of the final acts of his administration.

It would have meant new Prime Minister Liz Truss would have faced an immediate row with MPs because she would have been forced to decide whether to support the appointment when it goes to a vote in the Commons.

But last night the new Government pulled the motion to place sir Christopher on the Privileges Committee – a move which is likely to infuriate Tory MPs loyal to Mr Johnson.

It came against the backdrop of growing calls for the inquiry to be dropped after Mr Johnson told the nation he would ‘return to his plough’ after returning to the backbenches.

A former Lib Dem member of the privileges committee has said it was time to ‘draw a line’ and called on the Privileges Committee to ‘leave the file on the table’.