Alexander Horne

Why Boris Johnson might escape a partygate punishment

Boris Johnson [Getty]

After several months of anticipation, two contentious legal submissions from Lord Pannick KC and a bumper 52-page witness statement, Boris Johnson finally made his appearance before the Privileges Committee yesterday.

Regular select committee watchers might have been surprised to see the panel of seven MPs conduct a forensic examination of Mr Johnson, sticking doggedly to their task, asking detailed questions and marshalling the facts at their disposal with some skill. Harriet Harman proved an adept Chair, keeping the committee on track and precluding too much lengthy meandering by the witness. Johnson was provoked to tetchiness, and even anger. But he could not be goaded into any explosive revelations.

This public conduct hearing was an unprecedented occasion; these events usually take place behind closed doors. As I predicted in April last year, Johnson was asked to give evidence under oath – bringing in the risk of a potential prosecution for perjury if he were to be economical with the actualité.

Three things struck me during the hearing. First, Johnson had sought, via submissions from his counsel and in his own witness statement, to exclude the committee from examining two issues: whether he had been misleading about breaches of the guidance (rather than the Covid rules) and whether he had been reckless in his statements to the House of Commons.

He argued that the first issue was out of scope because the committee was restricted to looking at his assertions to parliament about the legality of activities under the Covid-19 regulations. His legal team also contended that to penalise Johnson, the committee would have to find that he deliberately misled parliament. They stated that there was no precedent for the committee to proceed on the basis of recklessness, while Johnson described the idea of doing so as ‘absurd’ in his witness statement.

These objections were given short shrift by the committee and his gambit was unsuccessful.

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