A parliamentary inquiry in the British House of Commons shows that the former prime minister provided misleading information about the parties held in Downing Street when the rest of the country was under strict lockdown.
The 24-page report includes, among other things, witness statements that Johnson said during an event that “this is probably the most non-socially distancing gathering in the UK right now”.
Another piece of evidence is an internal pm sent in April 2021, six months before the parties became public knowledge, warning of leaks about the Prime Minister’s “crooked nights”.
“I don’t think it’s unwarranted to be worried,” the PM says.
“Not a single piece of evidence”
The report has been drawn up by a committee consisting of seven politicians, four of whom are party mates of Johnson in the Conservative Party.
Their mission was to investigate whether the prime minister was untruthful, and if so, whether it was deliberate. The now-released investigation is not an intended final report, but should give Johnson guidance ahead of the public hearing he will participate in later in March.
However, it is unclear exactly what possible sentence he could receive if convicted. Had Johnson still been Prime Minister, he would most likely have been forced to resign if he was finally proven to have lied.
A conviction, on the other hand, can put a damper on any attempts to become leader of the party and the nation again in the future.
Johnson himself says the report “absolutely” proves his innocence.
“What’s interesting is that after ten months they haven’t found anything, not a single piece of evidence, that I would have deliberately broken any rules,” he says in a video released to BBC and Sky.
Gray under magnifying glass
The report was drawn up in part following the investigation carried out last year by independent officer Sue Gray. Her report singled out a lack of leadership and a “culture” of rule-breaking as reasons for the parties under strict lockdown.
During Friday, Sue Gray also found herself at the center of some controversy. She has indeed agreed to become Labor leader Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, which has caused several conservatives to question her partygate report and call it biased.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is said according to The Times are concerned that Gray is bringing sensitive information from his previous work in the Cabinet Office and colleagues in the Cabinet have urged him to block a transfer for the next two years.