BORIS Johnson is set to launch a last-ditch defence of his Partygate claims ahead of a bruising session in the commons.
The former prime minister will spend between four and five hours giving evidence to the parliamentary inquiry tasked with looking at whether or not he misled MPs when he told them there was no breaking of the Covid rules in No 10.
GET THE LATEST HERALD SUBSCRIPTION OFFER: Subscriptions from HeraldScotland
He is reportedly set to submit a 50-page dossier of evidence to the privileges committee on Monday including a number of texts and WhatsApps.
If the committee finds him in contempt of parliament, he could face a suspension from the Commons. If it’s more than ten days his constituents in Uxbridge and South Ruislip would be able to trigger a recall election.
In their interim report, the Commons committee has already made it clear that the rule-breaking should have been “obvious.”
That report included a WhatsApp message on January 25, 2022 from Jack Doyle, then No 10 director of communications, who, when asked about one of the events, stated: “I’m struggling to come up with a way this one is in the rules in my head.”
READ MORE: Scottish MP who helped topple Boris Johnson open to Holyrood career
According to his supporters, the messages to be published by the ex-Tory leader will show that he was relying upon the advice of officials when he made his statements to parliament.
He is also set to publish messages which show that other senior figures working in Downing Street also believed the gatherings were not breaking the rules because there was a “workplace exemption”.
A source familiar with Mr Johnson’s defence told the Sunday Times: “The messages will show in black and white that what Johnson told parliament was what he had been advised to say by officials and his No 10 team. The argument will be that it was reasonable for him to rest upon those assurances.
“Boris was not present at the vast majority of the gatherings and so there was a limit to what he knew about, and he was forced to rely upon the advice he received. What we are trying to show is that he said what he believed and was told at the time.”
A source close to Johnson told the paper: “It’s clear the committee has been picking and choosing the evidence it decides to release and has only published a fraction of the material in their possession. We believe that when all the evidence is looked at in the round, it will present a picture that is very favourable towards Boris.”
READ MORE: Faith Marley: Missing teen captured on CCTV with 'unknown man'
Mr Johnson is also set to question the committee’s integrity, particularly over their reliance on the report compiled by Sue Gray.
The senior civil servant who was tasked with investigating the 16 gatherings has since been in talks with Sir Keir Starmer to become his chief of staff.
Mr Johnson will face the committee on Wednesday, where he’ll be asked about his statements to the Commons.
Most of the MPs on the committee are Tories, Alberto Costa, Bernard Jenkin, Andy Carter and Sir Charles Walker. Labour has two spots, held by Yvonne Fovargue and Harriet Harman, who is chairing the inquiry.
The SNP’s Allan Dorans, a former Met Police detective, is also on the committee.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel