Furious Boris Johnson Accuses 'Deranged' Privileges Committee Of Lying

Furious Boris Johnson has lashed out at the “deranged” findings of the partygate probe which found he misled parliament. 

A crossbench group of MPs, on the privileges committee, concluded the former prime minister made “repeated contempts” of parliament with his partygate denials.

Their report published on Thursday morning said his actions warranted a 90-day suspension.

It would have paved the way for a by-election for the former prime minister if he had not resigned ahead of the publication.

Johnson quit the Commons last week after reading the report’s findings.

But he issued a blistering statement as the report was published, hitting out at what called a “deranged conclusion”. 

Johnson called the committee led by Labour veteran Harriet Harman “beneath contempt” and claimed its investigation had delivered “what is intended to be the final knife-thrust in a protracted political assassination”.

He said: “The committee now says that I deliberately misled the house, and at the moment I spoke I was consciously concealing from the house my knowledge of illicit events.

“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.”

Johnson argued that the police investigated his role in events highlighted by the panel, adding: “In no case did they find that what I had done was unlawful.”

The outgoing MP also said Downing Street did not believe that what they were doing was wrong, adding: “After a year of work the privileges committee has found not a shred of evidence that we did.”

He also took aim at Tory MP on the committee Sir Bernard Jenkin who has been accused of attending a gathering during covid rules.

“The hypocrisy is rank,” Johnson said. “Like Harriet Harman, he should have recused himself from the inquiry, since he is plainly conflicted.”

During his lengthy statement, Johnson claimed the “craziest assertion” was their “Mystic Meg claim” that he saw a December 18 event with his own eyes.

He goes on to describe the report as a “charade” and that it marked a “dreadful day” for MPs and for democracy.

“For the privileges committee to use its prerogatives in this anti-democratic way, to bring about what is intended to be the final knife-thrust in a protracted political assassination – that is beneath contempt.”

The MPs recommended that Johnson should not be given a former member’s pass, which would grant him access to the parliamentary estate.

“We have concluded above that in deliberately misleading the House Mr Johnson committed a serious contempt,” the MPs said.

“The contempt was all the more serious because it was committed by the prime minister, the most senior member of the government.

“There is no precedent for a prime minister having been found to have deliberately misled the House.

“He misled the House on an issue of the greatest importance to the House and to the public, and did so repeatedly.

“He declined our invitation to reconsider his assertions that what he said to the House was truthful.

“His defence to the allegation that he misled was an ex post facto justification and no more than an artifice. He misled the committee in the presentation of his evidence.”