On Thursday, June 15, committee members issued a devastating remark that further tainted former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Allegedly, he intentionally deceived parliament about rule-breaking gatherings at his office during COVID-19 lockdowns, as reported by Reuters.
A little over a year ago, Johnson declared his intention to serve as prime minister long into the 2030s. On Thursday, however, the privileges committee, the key legislative disciplinary body, ruled that he should no longer have unrestricted access to the parliament. To add insult to injury, the committee said Johnson was "complicit in a campaign of abuse and attempted intimidation" against them.
Johnson, who led the Conservatives to an overwhelming election win in 2019, responded in the usual confrontational fashion by calling the inquiry a lie and a "charade." He accused the committee members of harboring personal grudges against him.
However, the impasse will do nothing to mend rifts inside the Conservative party and will add stress on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as he tries to revive Britain's sluggish economy.
Johnson Reportedly Misled the House, Amounting to Serious Contempt
Six instances were documented in the report, which included the prime minister's offices and home on Downing Street.
According to the committee's findings, Johnson committed serious contempt by intentionally deceiving the House.
"The contempt was all the more serious because it was committed by the prime minister, the most senior member of the government. There is no precedent for a prime minister having been found to have deliberately misled the House (of Commons, lower House of parliament)," the committee stated.
It suggested that he should not be able to get a former member's pass, which lets most previous prime ministers and politicians get automatic entry to parliament. Next week, lawmakers will debate the suggestion made by the committee, according to The New York Times.
A spokesperson for Sunak said the prime minister had not yet seen the report but agreed with its finding.
No MP Is Safe From Revenge or Trumped-up Allegations, Said Johnson
After seeing a draft of the report last week, Johnson resigned from parliament and criticized the investigation as a "witch hunt," according to USA Today.
He said, "I believed, correctly, that these events were reasonably necessary for work purposes. We were managing a pandemic."
The committee, which consisted of four Conservatives and three opposition members, rejected Johnson's defense that the meetings were legal and that his advisors sided with him.
He termed the release of the investigation as a dreadful day for legislators and for the democratic process as a whole. With this ruling, he said, no member of parliament is safe from expulsion on fabricated allegations or personal vendettas from a vocal minority who want them out of the House of Commons.
