The House of Commons Immunity Committee questioned Boris Johnson for more than three hours this afternoon about whether he was telling the truth to Parliament in December 2021, when he claimed he did not know the so-called ‘anti-coronavirus parties’ on Downing Street conducted amid the pandemic “violated the rules” set by his government.

The former British Prime Minister reiterated that everything he did, he did in good faith. “I am here to say, hand on heart, that I did not lie to Parliament. The statements were made in good faith and based on what I honestly knew and believed at the time,” said Boris Johnson. In fact, as he emphatically pointed out, if he believed the Downing Street rallies were illegal, he would not have allowed the official photographer in the Prime Minister’s Office to take pictures.

For her part, Commission President and Labor MP Harriet Harman pointed out that misleading Parliament prevents the proper functioning of democracy and institutions as trust between MPs and citizens is lost. “Without this trust, all parliamentary democracy is undermined,” the madam pointedly remarked. Harman.

The commission’s decision is expected in the coming weeks. Three scenarios are possible the next day:

• If the Commission decides that Boris Johnson did not disrespect Parliament, even if some of his statements misled him, as he already admitted, they will not impose any sanctions on him, so the case stops there.
• If the Commission finds that Boris Johnson has shown contempt of Parliament, it will have to consider how serious that contempt was. That is, if he did it unintentionally, negligently or intentionally. Depending on the final verdict, the Commission has the option of asking the former prime minister to issue a written apology, apologize in person in the House of Commons, or even take his case to the House of Commons to ask for a suspension of his parliamentary duties.
• If the Plenum finally imposes on him the penalty of suspending his parliamentary duties for 10 days or more, a so-called “request for withdrawal” of his seat will automatically be initiated. In this case, registered voters in his constituency will be asked to decide whether they want to continue to be represented by Boris Johnson. If 10% of those voters sign the “recall petition”, Boris Johnson loses his seat and a by-election is called to elect a new MP. It is worth noting that the regulations allow Boris Johnson to be a candidate again to claim his seat.

Source: RES-IPE