Boris Johnson ‘found to have deliberately misled parliament’

On Wednesday 14 June, Boris Johnson will reportedly be found to have deliberately misled MPs over parties in Downing Street during the pandemic.

The Privileges Committee has rejected the former prime minister’s defence that senior officials advised him that Covid rules and guidance had been followed.

Downing Street has said it would have been inappropriate for No 10 or the Cabinet Office to have contacted individuals going through the vetting process for peerages, after Nadine Dorries accused the prime minister of blocking her from entering the House of Lords.

“In line with the longstanding custom, the prime minister forwards the list unaltered following vetting by Holac (the House of Lords Appointments Commission),” the spokesman said.

“Obviously it is not for No 10 or the Cabinet Office to be in contact with individuals going through the Holac process – again, that would not be appropriate.”

Asked whether the prime minister believes “only posh boys” should be handed peerages, the spokesman replied: “No.”

Rishi Sunak believes in “probity” and the rules on misleading Parliament are “clearly set out,” Downing Street added, amid reports the Privileges Committee has found Boris Johnson deliberately misled MPs.

“The consequences for misleading Parliament are clearly set out.

“You’ve heard the prime minister talk on a number of occasions about the importance of probity,” his spokesman added.

No doubt, even allowing for some childish petulance, Boris Johnson thought himself jolly smart by skipping the House of Commons before the privileges committee published its report.

The likely sanction of suspension from the Commons has been rendered redundant, and the debate on the report will be missing his contributions. He has avoided a ritual humiliation in the chamber at the hands of those who he considers dolts and fools and, on his own side, those who owe their ministerial jobs and cushy parliamentary lives to his campaigning genius.

In a short digression during his turn at London Tech Week, the prime minister did not hold back: “Boris Johnson asked me to do something that I wasn’t prepared to do because I didn’t think it was right. That was to either overrule the Holac [House of Lords Appointments Commission] committee or to make promises for people. Now, I wasn’t prepared to do that. I didn’t think it was right, and if people don’t like that, then tough.”

Harking back to his pledge to bring integrity, professionalism, and accountability into government, Mr Sunak went on to explain that he wanted to do things differently because he wanted to “change politics, and that’s what I’m doing”.

In the fog of the Tory civil war, it’s not always clear who’s winning or even exactly who’s on the field of battle.

Sean O’Grady maps out a timeline of the fall of Boris Johnson:

The chair of Britain’s COVID-19 inquiry pledged to put the bereaved and those who suffered at the heart of her work as she began main hearings on Tuesday into how the coronavirus pandemic was handled.

Former prime minister Boris Johnson had ordered the inquiry to look into the United Kingdom’s preparedness as well as the public health and economic response after Britain recorded one of the world’s highest death tolls from COVID.

More than 175,000 deaths from the virus had been reported by the time Johnson stood down in July last year.

“I have promised many times that those who have suffered hardship and loss are and will always be at the heart of the inquiry,” the chair, Heather Hallett, said at the start of the hearing. “I am listening to them. Their loss will be recognised.”

Module one, which is looking into Britain’s preparedness for the pandemic, opened on Tuesday.

The inquiry has held preliminary hearings, but this week will see the first evidence heard in the inquiry since it was formally launched in June 2022.

With a national election expected next year, the detailed examination of decision-making could create political headaches for current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who was finance minister during the pandemic.

However, evidence hearings on module two, which covers governance and decision-making in the pandemic, are not due to start until later in the year.

The government has launched a legal challenge against the inquiry over its requests for internal government WhatsApp messages from Johnson‘s time in office which it says are “unambiguously irrelevant” to the inquiry.

The inquiry argues that it is for the chair to determine what material is relevant. The legal case will be heard about the end of June.

Tory infighting between Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak is damaging the UK’s reputation internationally and putting off investors, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer claimed.

Mr Johnson, who formally quit Parliament on Monday in advance of a report which was expected to find he deliberately lied to MPs over the partygate scandal, has been involved in a public spat with Mr Sunak over his resignation honours list.

Sir Keir said it “is certainly evidence of chaos” in the Tory party, claiming the by-elections triggered by Mr Johnson, Nadine Dorries and Nigel Adams were “essentially political tantrums”.

“Political parties usually fight like this when they’re out of office, it’s very unusual when they’re in office,” he said.

But, Sir Keir told business chiefs at London Tech Week: “There is a price to be paid.

“Everywhere you go across the country, most people are really worried about the cost of living, they are worrying about how they can pay their bills.

“And for them to see a government squabbling with itself instead of focused on what they need addressed, I think is a very serious situation for this government.

“And there’s a deeper price because there’s a reputation hit to the UK. And I think there’s an economic hit as well … many investors said to me, we’re not investing in the UK right now because we don’t see the conditions of certainty and stability we need in order to invest.”

The voices of some of those who suffered most in the pandemic will be heard as the UK Covid-19 Inquiry officially begins its first day of evidence.

Two years after then-prime minister Boris Johnson announced a public inquiry would be set up, chairwoman Baroness Heather Hallett will formally open the first substantive hearing on Tuesday.

Following her statement, a video featuring people from across the UK sharing their experiences of loss will be played to those gathered at the hearing centre in west London.

Aine Fox has the full story:

A former aide to Boris Johnson is set to become the youngest-ever peer after being included in his controversial resignation honours list.

Charlotte Owen, 29, joins former cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg and Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns in being elevated to the House of Lords by the ex-prime minister.

My colleague Matt Mathers reports:

Sir Keir Starmer said how the UK responds to Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act is a “critical question”.

The Labour leader said President Biden’s $369bn package of subsidies for investment in green technology is drawing business away from Britain.

“I can feel investors being drawn toward the US, and we need a response in the UK to that. We can not just sit it out,” Sir Keir told attendees at the London Tech Week conference.

He added: “Creating those conditions for businesses to thrive is absolutely vital to us.”

Sir Keir highlighted Labour’s so-called Green Prosperity Plan, which will see the party invest up to £28bn per year in climate-friendly projects until 2030 if it wins the next election.

He said: “We have a plan that will be our equivalent of the Inflation Reduction Act.

“It will give us lower bills, security, independence from tyrants like Putin and a real chance to grow our economy.”

And, in a swipe at Rishi Sunak and chancellor Jeremy Hunt, Sir Keir added: “What I don’t believe in is a government that just looks at the problem and sits it out.

“We have to be on the pitch, agile and active working in business to reap what will be the great rewards if we get this right.”