Lawbreaker and liar

Report says Johnson DID mislead House on Partygate. He fibbed to MPs grilling him and 'complicit' in intimidation

- JOHN STEVENS, BEN GLAZE and LIZZY BUCHAN

BORIS Johnson's shameful litany of lies finally caught up with him yesterday as MPs ruled he repeatedly and deliberately misled Parliament on Partygate.

The Privileges Committee also accused the disgraced former PM of being "complicit" in a campaign to intimidate its members who were tasked with investigating him.

And it said Johnson continued with his lies even as MPs grilled him on them and then breached Commons rules by leaking the damning report's findings before they were published.

The 106-page paper exposes as hollow his claims that "all guidance was followed in No10" during 2020's illegal lockdown parties, first revealed in December 2021.

Labour's Thangam Debbonaire said: "The evidence in this report is damning and the conclusions the committee came to are clear. Boris Johnson is a law-breaker and a liar."

Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper added: "This should be the final nail in the coffin for Boris Johnson's political career.

DAMNING VERDICT

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.

"It is completely unprecedented for a former Prime Minister to be found to have been a law-breaker and serial liar, who treated the public and Parliament with total disdain."