Stuck in the scandal of clandestine parties in Downing Street during confinement, Boris Johnson is now the target of a parliamentary inquiry, launched on Thursday by deputies, to determine whether the British Prime Minister deceived them in this affair.
This is yet another setback for the 57-year-old Conservative leader: far from turning the page on the crisis, he finds himself with a third investigation, after others in ongoing administrative and police proceedings. And this despite its large majority in the House of Commons, its initial desire to oppose the procedure and then a maneuver to push it back, abandoned at the last minute.
The decision of the deputies, taken by consensus without even a vote, thus opens a new front in this affair, likely in the long term to force Boris Johnson to resign, a sign of the persistent unease within his troops in the face of the scandal.
Towards a resignation of Boris Johnson?
On many occasions before Parliament, he assured that all the rules had been respected, an assertion contradicted by the fine imposed a week ago on Boris Johnson.
The ministerial code provides that a minister who has knowingly misled Parliament must resign. The parliamentary inquiry will not begin until the police investigation is complete and senior civil servant Sue Gray, in charge of an internal inquiry, has delivered her final report.
A preliminary report, denouncing “errors of leadership and judgment” has already given a glimpse of his appreciation of what was at stake behind the walls of Downing Street, contrasting with the sacrifices made by the British to fight against the pandemic.
The motion driving parliamentary procedure “seeks to uphold the simple principle of honesty, integrity and telling the truth” in British political life, opposition Labor leader Keir Starmer told the origin of the text. “We know that the Prime Minister himself broke the law,” he added, stressing that the head of government is not immune to further fines for his participation in other festive events.
A surprise pot in full containment
The case, which for a time took a back seat due to the war in Ukraine, was revived last week when he was fined for breaching anti-Covid restrictions while participating in a surprise drink for his 56th birthday in June 2020, becoming the first sitting UK head of government sanctioned for breaking the law.
On the plane taking him for a visit to India, he repeated that he wanted to remain in office until the next legislative elections scheduled for 2024. On the Sky News channel, he assured that he “frankly has absolutely nothing to hide” in this affair, he regrets, “without end”.
On Tuesday, Boris Johnson repeated his “unreserved” apologies to MPs and the British, saying that it “did not occur to him” that this rally, lasting around ten minutes at most, according to him, ” may constitute a violation of the rules then in effect.
The slingers are mobilizing
Many MPs who had once called for the departure of Boris Johnson, however, consider that it is now inappropriate to chase him from Downing Street in the context of the war in Ukraine… And for lack of an obvious successor, the star of the Minister of Finance Rishi Sunak having tarnished in recent weeks due to the purchasing power crisis.
The debate held on Thursday, however, gave some rebels the opportunity to declare themselves, like the influential MP Steve Baker, who joined the ranks of Conservative MPs who are calling on Boris Johnson to resign. “The prime minister is long overdue,” said avid Brexiteer.
This new setback for Boris Johnson comes just two weeks before a perilous local election for the Conservatives on May 5. In any case, the London police, which has already imposed around fifty fines and is continuing its investigation, indicated Thursday that it would refrain from communicating on possible developments in this case between now and the ballot.