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Boris Johnson faced a “torrid time” at Wednesday’s showdown grilling on whether he lied over Partygate, according to Conservatives MPs who branded his defence dossier weak and predicted that he would be found guilty and punished.
The former prime minister lashed out at the committee of MPs investigating whether he lied to parliament – accusing the cross-party group of “absurd, illogical and partisan” claims in his 52-page dossier.
Battling to save his career, Mr Johnson admitted that he had misled parliament about Covid rule-breaking – but insisted his denials were made “in good faith” based on what he “honestly” knew at the time.
But senior Tory MP David Davis was scathing about the former Tory PM’s dependence on assurances from his communications director Jack Doyle that a December 2020 party was “within the rules”.
The former cabinet minister told The Independent: “The idea of ministers just saying whatever special advisers write for them is unutterable b*****ks. If that’s the strength of the argument he is sinking without trace. If that’s it, then he’s in for a torrid time.” |
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Boris Johnson was dealt two humiliating blows in parliament on Wednesday as he was forced to plead “hand on heart” that he had not lied to MPs over Partygate while he also failed to lead a Commons revolt against Rishi Sunak.
During an occasionally bad-tempered three-hour grilling, the former prime minister defended the decision to hold parties inside No 10 during the pandemic – including one attended by his wife and his interior designer – saying they had been “necessary” for work purposes.
It also emerged that Mr Johnson had been explicitly warned against claiming that all Covid guidance had been followed – but did so anyway.
Meanwhile, his efforts to undermine Mr Sunak’s post-Brexit agreement with the EU ended in abject failure as a vote on the Windsor Framework passed the Commons by a mammoth majority of 486. |
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