Boris Johnson torn into as Privileges Committee questions start

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s declare that he didn’t intentionally mislead the Home over Covid lockdown events in Downing Avenue is being torn aside within the early phases of questioning by the Privileges Committee.

Johnson is showing earlier than the committee in the present day, as he seeks to defend himself towards allegations that he intentionally misled the Home.

Within the early phases of proceedings, Johnson made a gap assertion through which he claimed, ‘hand on coronary heart, I didn’t mislead the Home’. Johnson’s defence is that he accepts he misled Parliament however acted in good religion.

He additionally informed the committee that Dominic Cummings “has each motive to lie” about what occurred throughout Partygate. He additionally mentioned that Harriet Harman, the chair of the committee is biased towards him.

The questioning started with Sir Bernard Jenkin asking Johnson about Lee Cain’s leaving occasion on 13^th November, with images exhibiting the previous Tory chief with a raised glass in his hand, surrounded by workers round a desk filled with booze. Jenkin requested whether or not Johnson accepted there was no social distancing, regardless of PM saying he’d caught to steerage.

Johnson insisted that when he ‘checked out that group it didn’t happen to me for one second we had been in breach of steerage’ and went on so as to add: “You’ll be able to’t anticipate human beings in an surroundings like No10 to have an invisible electrified fence round them, they are going to sometimes enter one another’s orbit.”

Jenkin replied: “Nicely should you’d mentioned all that to the Home on the time we in all probability wouldn’t be sitting right here. However you didn’t.”

He went on so as to add: “The steerage doesn’t say you may have a thanks occasion and as many individuals as you need”.

Johnson conceded that social distancing on the occasion was ‘imperfect’.

It’s solely been an hour and Johnson’s defence is falling aside already.

Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Ahead

The put up Boris Johnson torn into as Privileges Committee questions begin appeared first on Left Foot Forward: Leading the UK's progressive debate.