Partygate inquiry: Everything you need to know about the investigation into Boris Johnson
It has been 11 months since the privileges committee launched its inquiry into Boris Johnson to establish if he misled parliament over lockdown parties in Downing Street.
Having collected written evidence, oral hearings are set to begin later this month, and we will be able to watch live while senior figures are questioned about who knew what and when as the partygate scandal played out.
Earlier this month, the committee published its initial report, saying the Commons may have been misled multiple times.
This is everything you need to know about the investigation.
How did the inquiry come about?
The end of 2021 saw a deluge of stories about rule-breaking gatherings in Number 10 and around Whitehall during the COVID pandemic.
As report after report dropped, question upon question was asked by MPs in the Commons about who was involved – and many of them were directed at the prime minister.
Mr Johnson repeatedly denied any COVID rules were broken in Downing Street.
But in April 2022, after an investigation by police and senior civil servant Sue Gray, it was confirmed a raft of gatherings had taken place.
Who is Sue Gray? The ex-partygate investigator picked as Starmer’s chief of staff
A total of 126 fines were issued by the Metropolitan Police, including to the prime minister, his wife Carrie Johnson and then-chancellor Rishi Sunak.
MPs from all sides of the Commons questioned whether Mr Johnson had misled the Commons over what he knew – a serious breach of parliamentary rules – and they voted in favour of the privileges committee carrying out an inquiry.
Mr Johnson said he had “absolutely nothing, frankly, to hide”.
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April 2022: Johnson says ‘I have nothing to hide’
What did Boris Johnson say in parliament?
Mr Johnson was first asked about partygate stories on 1 December 2021 when facing Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions.
“As millions of people were locked down last year, was a Christmas party thrown in Downing Street for dozens of people on 18 December?” Sir Keir asked.
The then-PM replied: “What I can tell the right honourable and learned gentleman is that all guidance was followed completely in Number 10.”
Pushed again by the then-Westminster leader of SNP, Ian Blackford, Mr Johnson accused him of “talking total nonsense” about parties.
Come PMQs on 8 December, Mr Johnson kicked off the questioning with a statement after a video surfaced of Number 10 staff joking about a Christmas party.
He said he “shared the anger” of the public and was “furious” to see the clip, adding: “I apologise unreservedly for the offence that it has caused up and down the country, and I apologise for the impression that it gives.
“I repeat that I have been repeatedly assured since these allegations emerged that there was no party and that no COVID rules were broken – that is what I have been repeatedly assured.”
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December 2021: PMQs clash over No 10 ‘party’
Mr Johnson also accused both Labour and the SNP of “playing politics” when he faced questions about the video from both party leaders.
He was then asked by Labour MP Catherine West: “Will the prime minister tell the House whether there was a party in Downing Street on 13 November?” – a date when two parties were reported to have taken place, at least one of which resulted in fines.
Mr Johnson replied: “No, but I am sure that whatever happened, the guidance was followed and the rules were followed at all times.”
Who is conducting the investigation?
The privileges committee is made up of seven MPs – four Conservatives, two from Labour and one from the SNP.
The MPs are voted onto the committee by their colleagues and reflect the political make-up of the House.
Labour’s Sir Chris Bryant usually chairs the committee, but recused himself from this investigation as he had already made a number of public comments about the matter.
Instead, senior Labour backbencher and mother of the House Harriet Harman will take his place.
Harriet Harman is chair of the committee
What will the inquiry involve?
The committee has been gathering and analysing written evidence after issuing a public call for it last summer.
It also requested evidence from Downing Street with a deadline of July last year, although it did not get that material until November.
The next step is to take oral evidence from those involved.
The committee has confirmed Mr Johnson will appear in front of them from 2pm on 22 March, but it has not yet announced which other individuals will be questioned.
It has confirmed the hearings will take place in public to make sure the probe is “transparent”, although requests to hear evidence anonymously or in private “will be considered on a case by case basis”.
After hearing all the evidence, the committee will compile a report of its findings.
What powers does the committee have?
Technically, the only powers the committee has is to issue that report to the Commons for MPs to consider.
In its findings, it can conclude that an individual has been found to have “committed a contempt” in misleading the House and it can recommend sanctions, ranging from an oral or written apology through to suspension for a specified period or even expulsion from the Commons.
But it will fall to MPs to decide whether to accept the findings of the report and to follow through with any sanction.
If MPs agree to a suspension of 10 sitting days or 14 calendar days upwards, it would trigger a recall petition for Mr Johnson, allowing his constituents in Uxbridge and South Ruislip to vote on whether to hold a by-election for his seat.
A report into the deadly Lisbon Gloria funicular crash has said the cable linking the two carriages snapped.
The carriages of the city’s iconic Gloria funicular had travelled no more than six metres when they “suddenly lost the balancing force of the connecting cable”.
The vehicle’s brake‑guard immediately “activated the pneumatic brake as well as the manual brake”, the Office for the Prevention and Investigation of Aircraft Accidents and Railway Accidents said.
Flowers for the victims in Lisbon. Pic: AP
Pic: AP
But the measures “had no effect in reducing the vehicle’s speed”, as it accelerated and crashed at around 60kmh (37mph), and the disaster unfolded in less than 50 seconds.
Questions have been asked about the maintenance of the equipment, but the report said that, based on the evidence seen so far, it was up to date.
A scheduled visual inspection had been carried out on the morning of the accident, but the area where the cable broke “is not visible without dismantling.”
The Gloria funicular is a national monument that dates from 1914 and is very popular with tourists visiting the Portuguese capital.
The Gloria funicular connects Lisbon’s Restauradores Square to the Bairro Alto viewpoint
It operates between Restauradores Square in downtown Lisbon and the Bairro Alto neighbourhood.
The journey is just 276m (905ft) and takes just over a minute, but it operates up a steep hill, with two carriages travelling in opposite directions.
How the disaster unfolded
At around 6pm on Wednesday, Cabin No.2, at the bottom of the funicular, “jerked backward sharply”, the report said.
“After moving roughly 10 metres, its movement stopped as it partially left the tracks and its trolley became buried at the lower end of the cable channel.”
Cabin No.1, at the top, “continued descending and accelerated” before derailing and smashing “sideways into the wall of a building on the left side, destroying the wooden box [from which the carriage is constructed]”.
It crashed into a cast‑iron streetlamp and a support pole, causing “significant damage” before hitting “the corner of another building”.
Cable failed at top
Analysis of the wreckage showed the cable connecting the cabins failed where it was attached inside the upper trolley of cabin No.1 at the top.
The cable’s specified useful life is 600 days and at the time of the accident, it had been used for 337 days, leaving another 263 days before needing to be replaced.
The operating company regards this life expectancy as having “a significant safety margin”.
The exact number of people aboard each cabin when it crashed has not been confirmed.
Britons killed in disaster
Kayleigh Smith, 36, and William Nelson, 44, died alongside 14 others in Wednesday’s incident, including another British victim who has not yet been named.
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Five Portuguese citizens died when the packed carriage plummeted out of control – four of them workers at a charity on the hill – but most victims were foreigners.
Any remaining residents in Gaza’s largest city should leave for a designated area in the south, Israel’s military has warned.
Israeli forces are carrying out an offensive on suburbs of Gaza City, in the territory’s north, as part of plans to capture it – raising concern over an already-devastating humanitarian crisis.
While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced pressure to stop the attack and allow more aid in, the military has announced a new humanitarian zone in the south.
Spokesperson Avichay Adraee said Gaza City residents should head to a designated coastal area of Khan Younis.
There, he said they would be able to receive food, medical care and shelter.
On Thursday, Israel said it has control of around 40% of Gaza City and 75% of the entire territory of Gaza.
Many of the city’s residents had already been displaced earlier in the war, only to return later. Some of them have said they will refuse to move again.
That’s despite the military claiming it is within a few kilometres of the city centre, coming after weeks of heavy strikes.
But the war in Gaza has left Israel increasingly isolated in the diplomatic sphere, with some of its closest allies condemning the campaign that’s devastated the territory.
Just two weeks ago, a famine was declared in Gaza City and surrounding areas by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a globally recognised system for classifying the severity of food insecurity.
A resident runs with his belongings in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
There is also concern within Israel, where calls have grown to stop the war and secure the release of the remaining 48 hostages.
Israel believes 20 of those hostages are still alive.
Even as relatives of those hostages lead protests, Mr Netanyahu continues to push for an all-or-nothing deal to release all hostages and defeat Hamas.
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On Friday, Donald Trump said Washington is in “very deep” negotiations with Hamas to release the captives.
“We said let them all out, right now let them all out. And much better things will happen for them but if you don’t let them all out, it’s going to be a tough situation, it’s going to be nasty,” he added.
Hamas is “asking for some things that are fine”, he said, without elaborating.
A man was heard screaming in the water moments before he died after a shark attack in Sydney, witnesses have said.
Emergency services responded to reports that a man in his 50s had suffered critical injuries at Long Reef Beach shortly after 10am (1am in the UK) on Saturday.
The man, whose identity has yet to be confirmed, was brought to shore but died at the scene, authorities have said.
Two sections of a surfboard have been recovered and taken for examination, and beaches near the area are closed as drones search for the animal.
Police are liaising with wildlife experts to determine the species of shark involved.
Pic: Sky News Australia
Surfer screamed ‘don’t bite me’
Speaking to Sky News Australia, witness Mark Morgenthal said he saw the attack and that the shark was one of the biggest he had ever seen.
“There was a guy screaming, ‘I don’t want to get bitten, I don’t want to get bitten, don’t bite me,’ and I saw the dorsal fin of the shark come up, and it was huge,” Mr Morgenthal said.
“Then I saw the tail fin come up and start kicking, and the distance between the dorsal fin and the tail fin looked to be about four metres, so it actually looked like a six-metre shark.”
Mark Morgenthal said it ‘looked like a six metre shark’ in the attack. Pic: Sky News Australia
Victim was a father and experienced surfer
New South Wales Police Superintendent John Duncan said at a press conference that the victim was 57 years old, calling the incident a “terrible tragedy”.
“The gentleman had gone out about 9.30 this morning with some of his friends, about five or six of his mates,” he added. “He’s an experienced surfer that we understand.
“Unfortunately, it would appear that a large, what we believe to be a shark, has attacked him. And as a result of that, he lost a number of limbs.
“His colleagues managed to make it back to the beach safely, and a short time later, his body was found floating in the surf, and a couple of other people went out and recovered it.”
Mr Duncan added that officers “understand he leaves behind a wife and a young daughter… and obviously tomorrow being Father’s Day is particularly critical and particularly tragic”.
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Local surfer and eyewitness Bill Sakula also told reporters at the beach: “It’s going to send shockwaves through the community.
“Everyone is going to be a little bit nervous for a while.”
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Surf Life Saving NSW has deployed a drone to search for further shark activity.
Its chief executive Steve Pearce said: “Our deepest condolences go to the family of the man involved in this terrible tragedy.”
Shark attacks are very rare, with this incident widely thought to be the first in New South Wales this year.
The last time a person in Sydney was killed in a shark attack was in February 2022 – the city’s first fatal shark attack since 1963.
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