Boris Johnson ‘very much’ looking forward to partygate grilling by MPs as he says committee has ‘not a shred of evidence’

Published

3 years ago

March 21, 2023

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Boris Johnson has said he is “very much” looking forward to appearing before MPs investigating whether he knowingly misled parliament over partygate.

The former prime minister earlier on Tuesday said he accepts he misled parliament over partygate but insisted his statements were made “in good faith”.

On the eve of his appearance in front of the privileges committee on Wednesday, he said: “I look forward very much to the committee session tomorrow.

“I believe that the evidence conclusively shows that I did not knowingly or recklessly mislead parliament.

“The committee has produced not a shred of evidence to show that I have.”

Mr Johnson and his team are understood to be “very confident” ahead of his appearance.

The former prime minister earlier accused the privileges committee of having gone “significantly beyond its terms of reference” with its probe into whether he knowingly lied to MPs.

In his written evidence to the committee, published on Tuesday, Mr Johnson said it was “unprecedented and absurd” to claim that relying on assurances from “trusted advisers” was “in some way reckless”.

But the committee hit back with a scathing statement which said the submission contains “no new evidence” in his defence, and an earlier version had to be re-submitted because of “errors and typos”.

Boris Johnson to appear in front of the privileges committee from 2pm tomorrow – watch and follow live on Sky News

The committee launched its probe in the wake of Sue Gray’s partygate report, which blamed a “failure of leadership and judgement” for the lockdown-busting parties that took place in Number 10 during the COVID pandemic.

The report criticised the culture that existed “at the heart of government” at a time when the rest of the country was ordered to follow strict social distancing guidelines.

Mr Johnson said he accepts the House of Commons “was misled by my statements that the rules and guidance had been followed completely at No 10”.

“But when the statements were made, they were made in good faith and on the basis of what I honestly knew and believed at the time,” he added.

Other key points in Mr Johnson’s evidence:

• Mr Johnson insisted that other than the “assertions of the discredited Dominic Cummings”, his former aide, there is “not a single document that indicates that I received any warning or advice that any event broke” the rules

• He rejected the committee’s belief that the evidence strongly suggested breaches of coronavirus rules would have been “obvious” to him while prime minister, calling the allegation “illogical”

• He argued that some of those who attended the events “wished me ill and would denounce me if I concealed the truth”

• He criticised the “highly partisan tone and content” in the committee’s damning interim report

• Referring to allegations of rule-breaking, the ex-prime minister said that any lack of social distancing in the “old, cramped London townhouse” of Number 10 was not necessarily a breach of guidance

• He said that while he personally attended five of the events considered by the committee, he “honestly believed that these events were lawful work gatherings”

• While he said he accepts the conclusion of the Met Police investigation, he said that it “remains unclear” to him – and possibly Prime Minister Rishi Sunak – about why they were fined for breaching lockdown laws

• He did not deny joking that he was at “probably the most unsocially distanced gathering in the UK right now” during a boozy mid-pandemic leaving do, but said he did not recall making the remark

Mr Johnson conceded in his evidence that his statements to parliament “did not turn out to be correct”, but insisted he corrected the record at “the earliest opportunity”.

“I did not intentionally or recklessly mislead the House on December 1 2021, December 8 2021, or on any other date,” he said.

“I would never have dreamed of doing so.”

Members of the COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group called his defence “sickening” and called for him to resign as an MP.

Becky Kummer, a spokesperson for the group, said it’s “obvious” that the former leader “deliberately misled parliament”, adding: “Far worse though is the lies he deliberately told to families like mine, after failing to protect our loved ones. His claim that he did so in ‘good faith’ is sickening.”

The 52-page defence dossier was published a day before Mr Johnson faces a live grilling by the cross-party group of MPs in a hearing that could decide his political fate.

In response to his evidence, the committee said Mr Johnson’s legal argument “contains no new documentary evidence” and that it had to be resubmitted on Tuesday because of “a number of errors and typos”.

What is the committee investigating?

If Mr Johnson fails to convince the committee he did not deliberately mislead the Commons, he could be found to have committed a contempt of parliament.

A suspension of more than 10 days could result in a high-profile by-election in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat – though MPs will have to vote on any recommendations.

In an interim report into its investigation published earlier this month, the committee said the evidence it had gathered “strongly suggests” it would have been “obvious” to Mr Johnson that COVID rules were being breached at Downing Street gatherings he attended.

It said it had identified at least four occasions where Mr Johnson may have misled MPs, which will form the backbone of its investigation.

The first instance was when Mr Johnson told MPs in December 2021 that no rules or guidance had been broken – when subsequent investigations by Ms Gray and the Met Police found otherwise.

The second occasion came when the former prime minister failed to tell the Commons about his own knowledge of gatherings where the rules or guidance had been broken, when evidence showed he had been present at some of them.

Thirdly, the committee said MPs may have been misled when Mr Johnson claimed on 8 December 2021 he had been given “repeated assurances” that rules were not broken.

However, these assurances only applied to one event on 18 December 2020 and not to compliance with the rules and guidance more generally.

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Finally, the committee said Mr Johnson gave the impression that he could only answer MPs’ questions once the investigation by Ms Gray had determined whether rules or guidance had actually been broken.

“While repeatedly making that statement to the House he appears to have had personal knowledge he did not reveal,” the committee said.

As well as being required to be truthful to parliament at all times, MPs are also encouraged to correct the record at the earliest opportunity if they have inadvertently said something wrong.

The committee said in its interim findings that Mr Johnson “did not use the well-established procedures of the House” to correct the record, as is convention.

World

MI5 is also trying to send a signal to China with spying warning to parliamentarians

Published

2 hours ago

November 18, 2025

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MI5 is also trying to send a signal to China with spying warning to parliamentarians

The warning was meant for British parliamentarians, of course, but MI5 and the government are also trying to send a signal to China.

We know what you are doing, and in ministers’ words today we “won’t stand for it”.

But in the wake of the collapsed China spying case last month, the security services also want to reestablish a badly dented sense of deterrence.

Politics latest: China responds to MI5’s spy warning to MPs

That case against two British men accused of spying for Beijing fell apart because officials would not use the words “enemy” or “national security threat” to describe China.

The failure projected a sense of weakness in the face of Chinese espionage efforts, something the government is keen to dispel.

Those efforts remain persistent and dangerous, security officials insist.

China has always aggressively sought the official and commercial secrets of Western nations.

It regards that mission as a patriotic duty, an essential part of a national project to catch up with and then overtake the West.

In the words of Britain’s security minister, Dan Jarvis, on Tuesday, China seeks “to interfere in our sovereign affairs in favour of its own interests”.

Indeed, much of China’s technological and economic progress was, until recently, built on intellectual property stolen from rival nations.

Its private sector has been notorious for ripping off and reverse engineering Western know-how, pilfered from joint venture partners or through commercial espionage.

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Intelligence agencies say the Chinese have also hoovered up vast amounts of personal data from all of us through social media platforms like TikTok and other methods, collecting in bulk for now, for sifting and harvesting later.

Officially, the Chinese government denies all these allegations. It has to be said that Western spies are also hard at work snooping on China.

But critics say Western nations have been naive and too trusting of the Chinese threat.

While the British government remains unsure whether to identify China as an enemy or simply a commercial rival, an ambivalence remains, which Beijing will continue doing its best to exploit.

World

Sudan ‘epicentre of suffering in the world’, says UN humanitarian chief

Published

15 hours ago

November 18, 2025

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Sudan 'epicentre of suffering in the world', says UN humanitarian chief

Mass killings and millions forced to flee for their lives have made Sudan the “epicentre of suffering in the world”, according to the UN’s humanitarian affairs chief.

About 12 million people are believed to have been displaced and at least 40,000 killed in the civil war – but aid groups say the true death toll could be far greater.

Tom Fletcher, the UN’s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told Sky’s The World With Yalda Hakim the situation was “horrifying”.

“It’s utterly grim right now – it’s the epicentre of suffering in the world,” he said of Sudan.

The war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – who were once allies – started in Khartoum in April 2023 but has spread across the country.

The fighting has inflicted almost unimaginable misery on a nation that was already suffering a humanitarian crisis.

Famine has been declared in some areas and Mr Fletcher said there was a “sense of rampant brutality and impunity” in the east African nation.

“I spoke to so many people who told me stories of mass executions, mass rape, sexual violence being weaponised as part of the conflict,” he said.

The fall of a key city

Last month, the RSF captured Al Fashir – the capital of North Darfur state – after a siege of more than 18 months.

Hundreds have been killed and tens of thousands forced to flee, according to the UN and aid groups.

The World Health Organisation said more than 450 people alone were reportedly killed at a maternity hospital in the city.

RSF fighters also went house to house to murder civilians and carried out sexual assault and rape, according to aid workers and displaced people.

The journey to escape Al Fashir goes through areas with no access to food, water or medical help – and Mr Fletcher said people had described to him the “horrors” of trying to make it out.

“One woman [was] carrying her dead neighbour’s malnourished child – and then she herself was attacked on the road as she fled towards Tawila,” he told Sky News.

Such is the violence in Al Fashir, blood from mass killings appears to stain the sand in satellite images from Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab, Mr Fletcher added.

“We’ve got to make sure there are teams going in to investigate these atrocities. Al Fashir is a crime scene right now,” he said.

“But we’ve also got to make sure we’ve got protection for civilians from the future atrocities.”

Children at the forefront of suffering

Mr Fletcher told Yalda Hakim that children had “borne the brunt” and made up one in five of those killed in Al Fashir.

He said a child he met “recoiled from me” and “flinched” when he gestured towards a Manchester City logo on his shirt when they were kicking a ball around.

“This is a six-year-old, so what has he seen and experienced to be that terrified of other people?” he asked.

He’s urging the international community to boost funding to help civilians, and a “much more vigorous, energised diplomacy” to try to end the fighting.

“This can’t be so complex, so difficult, that the world can’t fix it,” he told Sky News.

“And we’ve seen some momentum. We’ve seen the quad – Egypt, America, Saudi, the UAE just recently – getting more engaged.

“I’m in daily contact with them all, including the White House envoy, Dr Massad Boulos, but we need to sustain that diplomatic engagement and show the creativity and patience that’s needed.”

Hopes of an imminent end to the violence currently look unlikely.

Sudan’s military leader, General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, said on Friday that his forces would not stop until the RSF is wiped out.

“This war will not come to an end with a truce, but when rebels are destroyed,” he said – according to a statement from Sudan’s ruling council.

“We call on all Sudanese to join the fight, and for those who can carry weapons to come forward.”

The RSF and the Sudanese army have previously agreed to various ceasefire proposals during their two-and-a-half-year-old war, but none have succeeded.

World

UN Security Council backs Trump peace plan for Gaza

Published

23 hours ago

November 17, 2025

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UN Security Council backs Trump peace plan for Gaza

The United Nations Security Council has passed a US resolution which endorses Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza.

Russia, which had circulated a rival resolution, abstained along with China on the 13-0 vote.

The resolution endorses the US president’s 20-point ceasefire plan, which calls for a yet-to-be-established Board of Peace as a transitional authority that Mr Trump would head.

US ambassador Mike Waltz said the resolution was “historic and constructive”, but it was “just the beginning”.

“Today’s resolution represents another significant step towards a stable Gaza that will be able to prosper and an environment that will allow Israel to live in security,” he added.

The proposal gives no timeline or guarantee for an independent Palestinian state, only saying “the conditions may finally be in place” after advances in the reconstruction of Gaza and reforms of the Palestinian Authority – now governing parts of the West Bank.

It also says that the US “will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous co-existence”.

The language on statehood was strengthened after Arab nations and Palestinians pressured the US over nearly two weeks of negotiations, but it has also angered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He has vowed to oppose any attempt to establish a Palestinian state, and on Sunday pledged to demilitarise Gaza “the easy way or the hard way”.

Hamas: International force is ‘in favour of’ Israel

In a statement rejecting the resolutions’ passing, a Hamas spokesperson said that it “falls far short of the political and humanitarian demands and rights of our Palestinian people”.

“The effects and repercussions of this war continue to this day, despite the declared end of the war according to President Trump’s plan,” they added.

“The resolution imposes an international trusteeship mechanism on the Gaza Strip, which our people, their forces, and factions reject.”

The spokesperson then said that “assigning the international force with tasks and roles inside the Gaza Strip, including disarming the resistance, strips it of its neutrality, and turns it into a party to the conflict in favour of the occupation”.

The Palestinian Authority, however, issued a statement welcoming the resolution and said it is ready to take part in its implementation.

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