Labor said a new revelation by Partygate on Sunday suggested that Boris Johnson had instigated one of the 10 parties he denied attending.
Labor MP Angela Raynor said after the Sunday Times reported that a rally on Downing Street on Friday, November 13, 2020, took on the character of an outgoing party only after Johnson arrived and began pouring drinks.
She said: “While the British public was making huge sacrifices, Boris Johnson was breaking the law.
“If the latest reports are correct, it would mean that not only did the prime minister attend the parties, but he had a hand in initiating at least one of them. He deliberately deceived the British people at every turn.
“The prime minister has humiliated his cabinet. The British deserve better. While Labor has a plan to tackle the cost of living crisis, Tory MPs are too busy defending Boris Johnson’s defenseless actions.
The revelation will heighten calls for a debate in the municipality this week over whether Johnson lied to parliament when he repeatedly told lawmakers that parties were not held at number 10 and that Covid’s rules were followed at all times.
Opposition parties are discussing how best to force a vote on the issue, and one option is to submit a proposal that says Johnson is disrespectful to parliament.
Johnson has already said he intends to adjust the record when lawmakers return to the municipality on Tuesday after their Easter break. This will be his first appearance in the Chamber since accepting a fine for violating the rules to block a rally in June 2020 to mark his own birthday, and he is expected to apologize again for what he claims is an unintentional violation of the rules.
However, Johnson continues to insist that he never deliberately misled MPs in his numerous comments about Partygate in the House of Commons. The ministerial code says that deliberately misleading MPs – lying to them – is a matter of resignation.
All the while, Boris Johnson denied and dismissed the partygate’s claims – video
Johnson faces three more fines for Partygate, one of which is related to an event he attended to mark the departure of Lee Kane, its communications director, in November 2020.
According to the Sunday Times, it didn’t look like leaving the party until Johnson himself showed up. “He said he wanted to say a few words about Lee and started pouring drinks for people and drinking himself,” a source told the paper.
This account was confirmed to the Guardian by a source familiar with the incident. No one had arranged to leave in advance – although it was common at the time for press staff to drink on Friday nights – but apparently when Johnson encouraged people to join, the staff felt obligated.
Police are investigating the incident and another rally the same day at the prime minister’s apartment on Downing Street, where his wife Carrie Johnson allegedly organized a party to mark the departure of Kane and his ally Dominic Cummings, Johnson’s chief adviser. .
In December last year, Labor MP Catherine West asked Johnson directly at PMQ if there was a party on Downing Street on 13 November. Johnson replied, “No, but I’m sure that whatever happened, the guidelines were followed and the rules were followed all the time.”
On Sunday, Green Party MP Caroline Lucas revealed that she had written to Mayor Sir Lindsay Hoyle asking if he would allow Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak to be held accountable by lawmakers for misleading parliament. Sunak also received a notice of a fixed sanction last week for attending the prime minister’s birthday party, he said – inadvertently – although he told lawmakers he did not attend any parties.
In his letter, Lucas said: “It is appropriate for MPs to have a way to check what has happened and for [Johnson and Sunak] potentially found in disrespect to parliament. “
Lucas added that the issue could be referred to the Standards Committee or the Privileges Committee, or MPs could vote on a proposal that Johnson disrespected in parliament. “The latter would be the fastest and therefore potentially the most appropriate,” she said.
Opposition parties, which are discussing tactics before a possible vote, say Johnson is likely to win because of the size of the Conservative majority. But they think it would be inconvenient for Tory MPs to have to vote to acquit him.
On Sunday, Brexit’s Jacob Rees-Mogg told Radio 4’s The World This Weekend that he believed Johnson had spoken “in good faith” to Partygate.
Referring to the birthday punishment, Reese-Mogg said: “Many people would think they are in line with the rules when they meet people they are with every day who happen to wish them a happy birthday because it is it was day.
“I think it was perfectly rational to believe that. Now the police have decided otherwise and the police have powers. But he didn’t think it was irrational or unreasonable that it was within the rules.
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