oris Johnson told the Privileges Committee that “hand on heart I did not lie to the House” over partygate as MPs probe whether he deliberately misled Parliament.
It comes after a 110-page dossier of evidence was relased, with claims from an unnamed No10 official that Mr Johnson “had the opportunity to shut down" lockdown gatherings in Downing Street but “allowed the culture to continue”.
In his appearance before the committee the former prime minister is expected to argue the evidence shows he did not intentionally mislead Parliament - saying he told Parliament Covid rules were followed at all times in No10 in “good faith”.
It comes as Rishi Sunak faces a potentially embarassing vote in the Commons on his Windsor Framework, with senior Tories, including former prime ministers Liz Truss and Boris Johnson, saying they will vote against it.
The vote is subject to a three-line whip so Mr Johnson will need to leave the committee to vote before returning.
Live updates
Staff ‘making a huge effort to follow guidance'
Boris Johnson said he accepts that “perfect social distancing” was not always taking place in No 10, but this was not in breach of guidance.
“I accept that not everybody is perfectly socially distanced in that picture”, he told Committee member Bernard Jenkin, but he said people “were making a huge effort to follow the guidance”.
“I struggle to see how I could have run No 10...without having brief farewell events of a kind... that did not fall foul of the rules.”
(Sue Gray Report/Cabinet Office)
/ PA MediaStaff tried their best within confines of No 10, Johnson argues
Comittee member Bernard Jenkin argued that people at the gathering were not socially distanced by two metres.
Boris Johnson claimed that guidance at the time was for everyone to abide by a one metre socially distant rule.
“You can’t expect human beings in an environment like No 10 to have an invisible electrified fence around them, they will occassionally enter another person’s orbit,” Mr Johnson said.
‘Guidance to be implemented where possible,’ Johnson says
Tory MP Bernard Jenkin pointed out how Boris Johnson “regularly repeated” Covid guidance at press conferences, proving there is “no doubt” he knew the guidance and what they were intended to achieve.
Boris Johnson accepted this. Photographs have been shown of Mr Johnson with at least 6-8 others standing in close proximity.
Mr Jenkin asked if Mr Johnson accepts that people were not socially distanced at the gathering.
He said “at all stages the guidance was intended to be implemented where possible”.
Questions begin
The Privileges Committee is now asking Boris Johnson questions.
On December 21, 2021 and onwards, Mr Johnson told the House that Covid rules and guidance were followed “at all times”, Committee chair Harriet Harman said.
Committee member and Tory MP Bernard Jenkin is asking the first question.
Boris Johnson asks Committee to be ‘fair'
“I trust that the Committee will be fair to me...and conclude I did not unwittingly mislead the Commons...and that no contempt has been committed,” Boris Johnson said in ending his opening statement.
Boris Johnson apologises for ‘inadvertently misleading’ MPs
Boris Johnson said it’s “ridiculous” for the Privileges Committee to suggest he should not have relied on advise from his senior advisers.
“I had to rely on, and was fully entitled to rely on, senior advisers,” he told the Committee.
He went on to say he apologises for “inadvertently misleading this House”, but claimed it was not “recklessly”.
Johnson: Gathering on December 18, 2020 was ‘within the rules’
Referring to the gathering on December 18 in 2020, in the press room in No 10, Boris Johnson said he was not there but believed the gathering “was within the rules”.
He said he was inclined to believe the event “must be in line with the rules and guidance”.
It was not obvious guidance was breached, Johnson claims
Boris Johnson said it was not obvious that guidance was being breached.
He said the vast majority of events relied upon by the Privileges Committee he only attended for 15 to 25 minutes.
“I will believe to the day I die that it was my job to thank staff for what they had done,” he said, adding that staff “morale did begin to sink”.
He said police agreed to his attendance to these gatherings.
Social distancing was not ‘complied with perfectly’, Johnson said
Boris Johnson said when he claimed that rules and guidance were not broken at No 10, he was not trying to “conceal” the truth, but said “in good faith” what he believed at the time.
“That did not mean that I believed that social distancing was complied with perfectly,” he said, but rather it was “not possible” to have social distancing at No 10.
Boris Johnson continues opening statement
Boris Johnson is continuing his opening statement.
He said most important of all, if it was obvious he was breaking rules, it must have been “equally obvious” to senior lawmakers and the current Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, who was Chancellor at the time.
“You are not only accusing me of lying, but all those civil servants,” he said, adding that the Privileges Committee is not giving anyone else an opportunity to defend themselves.
He said officials believed rules and guidance were being adhered to.
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2023-03-22 14:58:56Z
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