Sunday, 19 May 2024

Boris's ordered to correct Partygate report 'littered with errors and typos'

Boris Johnson had to take back his Partygate evidence and edit it after it was submitted with ‘a number of typos and errors’.

In a long-awaited 52-page document published today, the former prime minister admitted he did mislead parliament but denied he did so knowingly.

The Committee of Privileges has revealed that the initial unredacted evidence package that was handed in on Monday afternoon included mistakes.

A ‘final corrected version’ was not submitted until 8.02am on Tuesday morning, they said – only 30 hours before the hearing is due to start.

Questioned on the claims, a source close to Mr Johnson admitted: ‘There were a small number of cosmetic changes to the typing.’

MPs on the committee have also revealed that the written submission contains ‘no new documentary evidence’.

Redactions have been made in the published version to protect the identity of some witnesses, particularly junior-ranking civil servants, a statement said.

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The ex-Tory leader’s political fate hangs in the balance as he prepares for a live grilling by the cross-party group of MPs tomorrow.

A worst-case scenario for Mr Johnson would see him suspended for 10 sitting days or more.

This would trigger a recall petition – if 10% of registered voters in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency signed it, his seat would be declared vacant and a by-election announced.

Any MP booted out with this process can still stand in any subsequent by-election to try to win the seat back.

But this situation would only emerge if what Mr Johnson said while misleading Parliament was found to have also had an impact on its ‘proper functioning’.

On top of this, MPs would also have to decide on how severe the ‘contempt’ was, and they could recommend another lighter sanction.

In his written evidence, the former British leader accepted that his denials turned out not to be true but said he corrected the record at the ‘earliest opportunity’.

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He insisted there is ‘no evidence at all that supports an allegation that I intentionally or recklessly misled the House’.

‘So I accept that the House of Commons was misled by my statements that the Rules and Guidance had been followed completely at No 10’, he wrote.

‘But when the statements were made, they were made in good faith and on the basis of what I honestly knew and believed at the time.

‘I did not intentionally or recklessly mislead the House on December 1 2021, December 8 2021, or on any other date. I would never have dreamed of doing so.’

Mr Johnson has urged the committee to not treat his former top political strategist Dominic Cummings as a credible witness due to his ‘animosity towards me’.

He called the inquiry’s allegation ‘illogical’, arguing that some of those who attended the events ‘wished me ill and would denounce me if I concealed the truth’.

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