Former UK prime minister Boris Johnson misled the House of Commons five times in his denial of Covid-19 rules being broken in Downing Street, the Privileges Committee said in its report as it recommended a 90-day suspension.
The committee of seven said it established Mr Johnson “had knowledge of breaches of the rules and guidance that occurred in No 10”.
After his resignation as an MP on Friday and his angry response to the draft report, the committee said he should be banned for three months.
“In light of Mr Johnson’s conduct in committing a further contempt on June 9, 2023, the Committee 7 Matter referred on 21 April 2022 (conduct of Rt Hon Boris Johnson): Final Report now considers that if Mr Johnson were still a Member he should be suspended from the service of the House for 90 days for repeated contempts and for seeking to undermine the parliamentary process,” the report read.
Mr Johnson said the Privileges Committee was “beneath contempt” because it had reached a “deranged conclusion” to deliver “what is intended to be the final knife-thrust in a protracted political assassination”.
The committee, which has a Tory majority and a Labour chairwoman, concluded that Mr Johnson’s attempts to mislead MPs were deliberate.
The report said the former Conservative Party leader misled politicians in Parliament on five occasions.
These occasions were outlined as follows:
- When he said that guidance was followed completely in No 10, that the rules and guidance were followed at all times, that events in No 10 were within the rules and guidance, and that the rules and guidance had been followed at all times when he was present at gatherings
- When he failed to tell the House about his own knowledge of the gatherings where rules or guidance had been broken
- When he said that he relied on repeated assurances that the rules had not been broken. The assurances he received were not accurately represented by him to the House, nor were they appropriate to be cited to the House as an authoritative indication of No 10’s compliance with Covid-19 restrictions
- When he gave the impression that there needed to be an investigation by Sue Gray before he could answer questions when he had personal knowledge that he did not reveal
- When he purported to correct the record but, instead, continued to mislead the House and, by his continuing denials, the committee
On two further occasions, Mr Johnson was found to have been “deliberately disingenuous when he tried to reinterpret his statements to the House”.
This was a reference to when he pushed “unsustainable interpretations” of Covid-19 rules and guidance to suggest a lack of social distancing at gatherings was permissible, as long as the gathering was allowed to take place.
The second occasion referred to when Mr Johnson “advanced legally impermissible reasons to justify” gatherings in Downing Street.
His denials and explanations “were so disingenuous that they were by their very nature deliberate attempts to mislead the committee and the House, while others demonstrated deliberation because of the frequency with which he closed his mind to the truth”, the report said.
“For these reasons, we conclude that Mr Johnson’s conduct was deliberate and that he has committed a serious contempt of the House.”
The panel took several factors into account when considering the “nature and extent of Mr Johnson’s culpability” in misleading the House.
The 30,000-word report listed his “repeated and continual denial of the facts”, as well as his efforts to “rewrite the meaning of the rules and guidance to fit his own evidence” as three such factors, the report said.
The findings were shared with Mr Johnson on June 8 and he was invited by the panel to “make further representations”.
The following day he announced he was resigning as an MP with immediate effect, triggering a by-election in his north-west London constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
Mr Johnson should not be entitled to a former MP's parliamentary pass, the committee said.
MPs will debate the report on Monday and have the opportunity to vote on a sanction.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak declined to say whether he will take part in the vote. The spokesman said he was not aware whether Mr Sunak had read the report.
The prime minister is confident that he never misled parliament, his spokesman said.
Johnson brands report 'a lie'
While serving as chancellor, Mr Sunak and his then-boss Mr Johnson were forced to apologise after being issued with fixed penalty notices (FPN) by the Met Police in April 2022 for breaking lockdown rules at gatherings in No 10.
Following the release of document, Mr Johnson released a lengthy statement trashing the findings. Referring to the finding that he deliberately misled MPs, the former Conservative leader said: "This is rubbish. It is a lie. In order to reach this deranged conclusion, the committee is obliged to say a series of things that are patently absurd, or contradicted by the facts."
He insisted that holding a gathering at No 10 to bid farewell to staff who were departing was necessary.
Mr Johnson dismissed the report as a charade and added: "The terrible truth is that it is not I who has twisted the truth to suit my purposes." Referring to the chairwoman, he added: "It is Harriet Harman and her committee." Taking aim at her again, he said: "It is for the people of this country to decide who sits in parliament, not Harriet Harman."
Mr Johnson described Thursday as a "dreadful day for MPs and for democracy", saying the charges are "trumped up".
He departed No 10 last September after being forced out by his own party over a series of scandals, including “partygate”.
After quitting his role as an MP last week, Mr Johnson hinted that he was planning to make a comeback to frontline politics, telling The Daily Express “as the great Arnold Schwarzenegger said, ‘I’ll be back’”.
Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner branded Mr Johnson a "disgraced" former politician and said he should "apologise to the people for what he has put them through". She condemned his "disgraceful pattern of behaviour" as she hit out at his attempts to "discredit" the Privileges Committee.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey branded Mr Johnson a "liar and law-breaker" and said he had "treated the public with utter disdain".
Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf said the findings of the report made for a "dark day" in Westminster.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan wrote on Twitter: "It's there in black and white: Boris Johnson is a liar."
Two by-elections, including in Mr Johnson's former Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency, will take place on July 20, local councils confirmed.
Boris Johnson through the years – in pictures
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Boris Johnson has had an eventful time during his life in politics and journalism. Here, 'The National' looks back at his life in pictures. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson attends the coronation ceremony of Britain's King Charles III at Westminster Abbey in May. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson leaves his home to attend a televised evidence session in March in front of the Commons Privileges Committee. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson listening to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy address parliamentarians in Westminster Hall in February. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson and Carrie Johnson arrive at Westminster Abbey for the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson he announces his resignation as prime minister outside 10 Downing Street in July 2022. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson at a press conference in response to the publication of the Sue Gray report into Partygate at Downing Street in May 2022. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson reads the long-awaited report by senior civil servant Sue Gray into the Downing Street party scandal, in his Downing Street office in May 2022. Photo: Downing Street -
Mr Johnson and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in central Kyiv in April 2022. The British prime minister paid an unannounced visit to Kyiv in a show of solidarity with Ukraine. AFP -
Mr Johnson watches an early morning police raid on a home in Liverpool as part of an operation to thwart drug dealing, in December, 2021. Getty Images -
The prime minister battles with his umbrella while with Prince Charles at The National Memorial Arboretum in July 2021, in Stafford, England. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson and his wife before the Uefa European Championship final between Italy and England at Wembley Stadium, London, in July last year. Getty Images -
The British prime minister with US President Joe Biden, European Council President Charles Michel, former Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi during the G7 Summit in Cornwall, in June 2021. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson with his wife Carrie in the garden of 10 Downing Street after their wedding at Westminster Cathedral, in May last year. Getty Images -
Boris Johnson visits Hartlepool after Conservative Party candidate Jill Mortimer won a parliamentary by-election in May, 2021. Getty Images -
The prime minister after receiving the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine at St Thomas' Hospital in London in March, 2021. Getty Images -
Boris Johnson after signing a Brexit trade deal with the EU in December 2020. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson examines a vial of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 candidate vaccine, at a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Wrexham, Wales, in November 2020. Getty -
Mr Johnson demonstrating the two-metre distancing rule during his visit to St Joseph's Catholic Primary School in Upminster, East London, in August 2020. PA -
In this photo, published alongside the Sue Gray report into the Partygate affair, Mr Johnson is seen at a gathering in the Cabinet Room in 10 Downing Street on his birthday in June, 2020. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson and former chancellor Rishi Sunak use hand sanitiser during a visit to the Pizza Pilgrims restaurant in June 2020, in east London, to see how they are getting their business ready to reopen as coronavirus lockdown restrictions were lifted in England. PA -
Mr Johnson and his fiancee Carrie Symonds applaud key workers outside 10 Downing Street in May 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson in the Cabinet Room observing a minute's silence in April 2020 in a tribute to the health staff and key workers who died during the coronavirus outbreak. PA -
Boris Johnson appears on monitors for a meeting in March 2020. The prime minister chaired morning meetings on the coronavirus remotely from Number 11 Downing Street, while self-isolating after testing positive for the virus. Reuters -
Members of a family listen as BMr ris Johnson makes a televised address to the nation from 10 Downing Street in March 2020, where he outlined the latest instructions to stay at home to help contain the Covid-19 outbreak. AFP -
Mr Johnson speaks to British troops stationed in Estonia during a one-day visit to the Baltic country in December 2019. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson and Carrie Symonds enter Downing Street as the Conservatives celebrate a sweeping election victory in December 2019. Getty -
Boris Johnson is greeted by staff at 10 Downing Street after meeting Queen Elizabeth II and accepting her invitation to form a new government in December 2012. PA -
Former US president Donald Trump and Mr Johnson arrive for a bilateral meeting during the G7 summit in August 2019 in Biarritz, France. Getty -
The queen welcomes Mr Johnson as the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party, during an audience in July 2019. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson, then Britain's foreign secretary, stands in front of St Basil's Cathedral during a visit to Moscow's Red Square in December 2017. Getty -
Mr Johnson collides with a child during a Street Rugby tournament in Tokyo in 2015, held to mark Japan hosting the 2019 Rugby World Cup -
As mayor of London Mr Johnson competes in a tug-of-war in October 2015. Getty Images -
The Olympic Flag is passed from Mr Johnson to IOC President Jacques Rogge during the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Getty Images -
Mayor of London Boris Johnson with Prime Minister David Cameron during the lighting of the Paralympic Cauldron in Trafalgar Square, in August 2012. PA -
Boris Johnson gets stuck on a zip-line during a BT London Live event in Victoria Park in August 2012. Getty -
Mr Johnson and Lord Sebastian Coe cheer as a giant set of Olympic rings is displayed from Tower Bridge in June 2012, Getty Images -
Mr Johnson gestures attends a Harry Potter studio tour of Diagon Alley, at the Warner Brother Studios, London, in December 2011. AP Photo -
Mr Johnson at the launch of London's first cycle hire scheme in July 2010. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson with artists' impressions of the design for London's new Routemaster bus in May 2010. Getty Images -
The candidates to be mayor of London; Labour's Ken Livingstone, Conservative Boris Johnson and Liberal Democrat Brian Paddick, being questioned on BBC's 'Newsnight' programme in April 2008. Getty Images -
Boris Johnson on the North Pier in Blackpool during the Conservative Party conference there in October 2005. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson at his desk in 2000 while he was a journalist for 'The Telegraph'. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson when he was president of the Oxford Union society speaking to the Greek minister for culture Melina Mercouri when she addressed the union. Reuters -
Boris Johnson in September 1979, at Eton School. Shutterstock
