The British Parliament’s privileges committee has accused seven Conservative MPs – including former minister Jacob Rees-Mogg, Priti Patel and Nadine Dorries – of “interfere” in the Partygate investigation and launching “an unprecedented and coordinated campaign” to try to discredit its conclusions about the actions of Boris Johnson.
The Partygate committee report, which concluded that Johnson had “deliberately misled” Parliament when he said Covid rules had been respected in Downing Street, was finally approved with 354 votes in favor and only seven against, plus dozens of absences and abstentions in the Tory seats.
Johnson himself precipitated his resignation days before to avoid the humiliation of being suspended as a deputy for 90 days. The former “premier” disqualified the parliamentary committee as “a fake court” and denounced an alleged “witch hunt”. His political allies followed suit with similar tirades.
The new report recommends that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the full House of Commons take action to reprimand former ministers and MPs and to tighten the rules and prevent future interference.
In total, seven deputies “Tories” and three Lords have been “warned” for their allegations against the privileges committee. Apart from those of three former ministers, Brendan Clarke-Smith, Mark Jenkinson, Andrea Jenkyns and Michael Fabricant have all been ‘targeted’ within the House of Commons. Zac Goldsmith, Peter Cruddas and Stephen Greenhalgh complete the list in the House of Lords.