Boris Johnson denied special access to parliament as MPs endorse report which said he lied
Boris Johnson has been stripped of special access to parliament after MPs endorsed the privileges committee’s report that he lied about parties in Downing Street during the COVID pandemic.
MPs voted by 354 to seven to back the report’s findings.
A total of 118 Conservatives voted for the report, while 225 abstained.
A debate was held in the Commons on Monday afternoon asking MPs to consider the report, which found the former prime minister knowingly misled parliament multiple times with his statements about gatherings in Number 10 during lockdown.
Earlier in the day, there had been uncertainty over whether there would be a vote on the report – but after shouts of “no” were heard in the Chamber, a division was held and a formal vote took place.
A total of eight cabinet ministers backed the privileges committee report, including Justice Secretary Alex Chalk, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, Chief Whip Simon Hart and Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt.
They will be sitting down with their colleagues who did not vote – including Rishi Sunak – for the weekly cabinet meeting in Downing Street on Tuesday morning.
The seven Conservative MPs who voted against the report were Bill Cash, Nick Fletcher, Adam Holloway, Karl McCartney, Joy Morrissey, Desmond Swayne and Heather Wheeler.
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In its damning report, the committee recommended that Mr Johnson should have served a 90-day suspension from the Commons had he not resigned as an MP just days earlier
It also said he should have his right to access parliament as a former MP revoked – a sanction that attracted strong criticism from his supporters.
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‘Who are you?’ Seven MPs reject report
During the debate, a number of Tory MPs rose to their feet to criticise Mr Johnson – including his predecessor Theresa May, who praised the committee for its “rigorous” report.
“It is not easy to sit in judgment on friends and colleagues,” she said, “but friendship, working together, should not get in the way of doing what is right.
“I commend the members of the privileges committee for their painstaking work, and for their dignity in the face of slurs on their integrity. To all the members of the committee, this House should… say thank you for your service.”
Harriet Harman – the Labour chair of the committee whom Mr Johnson accused of conducting a “kangaroo court” – thanked the Conservative members who took part in the probe for their “outstanding dedication and commitment”.
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‘I think that’s a mic-drop Jacob Rees-Mogg’
“They have had to withstand a campaign of threats, intimidation, and harassment designed to challenge the legitimacy of the inquiry, to drive them off the committee and thereby frustrate the intention of the House that this inquiry should be carried out,” she said.
Ms Harman was challenged by Johnson supporter Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, who questioned whether she was appropriate to lead the inquiry given her previous tweets that had been critical of the former prime minister.
But Ms Harman confirmed that she had checked with the government that it was happy for her to chair the committee and had in fact offered to step aside.
“I actually said I am more than happy to step aside because perception matters and I don’t want to do this if the government doesn’t have confidence in me, because I need the whole House of have confidence in the work that the committee has mandated,” she said.
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‘We are all responsible for our actions’
“I was assured that I should continue the work that the House had mandated with the appointment that the House had put me into and so I did just that.”
Elsewhere in his speech, Sir Jacob, who received a knighthood in Mr Johnson’s controversial resignation honours list, said it was “ridiculous” to remove Mr Johnson’s right to access parliament as former MP.
He also denounced the committee’s proposed sanction of a 90-day suspension from parliament as “vindictive”.
He told MPs that it was “absolutely legitimate to criticise the conduct of a committee, to criticise the members of a committee”, adding: “That is politics.”
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Nick Fletcher, the Tory MP for Don Valley, also confirmed he would not vote for the report on the grounds that the country “needs to move on”.
The debate and vote comes after the committee’s damning verdict issued last week, found Mr Johnson guilty of impugning the committee and being complicit in a “campaign of intimidation” against its members.
The former prime minister immediately hit back at what he called a “deranged conclusion” and branded the committee’s report a “charade”, adding its investigation had delivered “what is intended to be the final knife-thrust in a protracted political assassination”.
Rishi Sunak – who was not present for the debate or vote – was accused of a “cowardly cop-out” by the Liberal Democrats.
Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper MP said his failure to vote “says all you need to know about this prime minister’s lack of leadership”.
“Sunak promised integrity yet when push came to shove, he was too weak to even turn up.”
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Conor McGregor has spoken out after losing a civil rape case as a feminist march was held in Dublin.
The MMA fighter was accused of raping Nikita Hand, who was awarded €248,603 (£206,000) in damages on Friday after a jury at Dublin’s High Court found McGregor assaulted her in a Dublin hotel in 2018.
Nikita Hand.
Pic: PA
Posting on social media, the 36-year-old said: “I know I made mistakes”.
It comes as hundreds of people in Dublin staged a demonstration in “utter solidarity” with Ms Hand.
Posting on X, McGregor said: “People want to hear from me, I needed time. I know I made mistakes. Six years ago, I should have never responded to her outreaches. I should have shut the party down. I should never have stepped out on the woman I love the most in the world. That’s all on me.
“As much as I regret it, everything that happened that night was consensual and all the witnesses present swore to that under oath. I have instructed my legal team to appeal the decision.
“I can’t go back and I will move forward. I am beyond grateful to my family, friends and supporters all over the world who have stayed by my side.
“That’s it. No more. Getting back to the gym- the fight game awaits!”
Conor McGregor (centre) and partner Dee Devlin leave the High Court in Dublin after he lost a civil case.
Pic: PA
Speaking outside court after the decision, an emotional Ms Hand said the two-week-long civil case had been a “nightmare” but that “justice has been served”.
“It’s something that I’ll never forget for the rest of my life,” she added.
In Dublin on Monday night, a march in support of Ms Hand was organised by the socialist feminist movement group Rosa to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
The demonstration in Dublin.
Pic: PA
Ruth Coppinger (left) and Natasha O’Brien at the solidarity march.
Pic: PA
Participants chanted “stand with Nikita” and “no more fear, no more shaming, we reject your victim blaming” as they carried signs and banners through the capital’s streets.
Ruth Coppinger, a councillor and general election candidate, and Natasha O’Brien, who became a public figure after a soldier received a suspended sentence for assaulting her, both spoke at the event.
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Ms Coppinger said Ms Hand was “an incredibly brave woman” and that she was watching the event via a live stream.
Ms O’Brien was cheered as she said she’d been “in awe” of Ms Hand’s courage and that Ireland had let out a collective “sigh of relief” after the jury found in Ms Hand’s favour.
McGregor was accused of having “brutally raped and battered” Ms Hand.
She was taken in an ambulance to the Rotunda Hospital the following day where the paramedic who assessed her told the court she had not seen “someone so bruised” in a long time.
Following eight days of evidence, and three days of closing speeches and the judge’s instructions to the jury, the jury of eight women and four men spent six hours and ten minutes deliberating before returning their verdict.
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