UNITED KINGDOM | ‘Partygate’ report confirms Boris Johnson deliberately lied to Parliament

2023-06-15 10:35:19

The committee of privileges of the British Parliament has confirmed all the predictions. the former prime minister Boris Johnson deliberately lied to the deputies by denying that the sanitary regulations were breached in the multiple parties in which he participated during the pandemic. The results of the investigation have put an end to 14 months of investigations and have dealt a severe blow to Johnson, who has seen virtually all his options of returning to the political front line undermined. The former ‘premier’ has always denied being aware of breaking the rules of confinement and has described the conclusions of the investigation as “far-fetched”.

The tension between Johnson and committee has been increasing since last Friday, when the former prime minister hastily resigned as a member of parliament, after knowing first-hand the results of the investigation. His resignation and that of one of his allies in the House of Commons, Nigel Adams, has led to the calling of by-elections in their constituencies, which are expected to be held on July 13 and which could put I press to Altar in case of losing both seats. It remains to be seen what will happen to another of Johnson’s great allies, the former Minister of Culture Nadine Dorries, who also announced her resignation as her deputy but has not yet formalized it.

internal divisions

Some British media suggest that Dorries is postponing her resignation with the aim of attacking the committee from her seat next Monday, when members of Parliament are scheduled to debate the outcome of the investigation. A session that will demonstrate the divisions among Johnson supporters in the Conservative partywho consider that the committee has based its conclusions on prejudice and on the desire to end the political career of the former ‘premier’, and his detractorswho have defended the professionalism of its seven members, including four Tory deputies.

Another possibility is that Dorries will hold office until September and trigger by-elections in his constituency just days before the Conservative Party congress, scheduled for early October. The objective would be to weaken Sunak in the event of a defeat for the conservatives and put him on the ropes before a conclave that, for now, no other candidate is considered for the elections. The attempt to destabilize the formation has been the strategy that Johnson has followed for months to try to return to the political front line, although the result of the report published this Thursday has turned him into a political corpse in the opinion of many of his colleagues. of party.

Die killing

Part of this strategy has been evidenced this same Wednesday, after the former prime minister requested the resignation of one of the conservative members of the privileges committee, the deputy Bernard Jenkin, for attending a party in December 2020 in which he allegedly did not sanitary rules were respected. Jenkin’s environment has denied these accusations and has ensured that it was a work event which the committee member attended to pick up his wife, who was at the scene at the time. Johnson’s movement has aroused criticism from some members of his party, collected by ‘The Guardian’, who have described it as “totally desperate”.

Johnson has also been criticized from other political forces. The number two of the Liberal Democrat Party, Daisy Cooper, has accused him of carrying out a “diversionary tactic” that does not alter the fact that he “broken the law and lied about it”. The opposition has thrown itself at the neck of the Conservative Party, which sees its chances of rising in the polls receding in an economic context that is not favorable for thousands of families and in the midst of internal battles that are difficult to heal. The image of a Johnson capable of destroying everything to satisfy his personal interests is gaining more strength than ever.