Boris Johnson allies criticised for trying to ‘discredit’ Privileges Committee in new report

Allies of Boris Johnson including Nadine Dorries and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg have been criticised for putting “improper pressure” on the parliamentary committee which examined allegations that he lied to MPs over partygate.

The Privileges Committee highlighted comments by senior MPs including Dorries, Rees-Mogg and Priti Patel along with peers including Lord Goldsmith – a serving minister.

Johnson resigned from Parliament in protest at the committee’s recommendations that he should face a lengthy suspension for misleading the Commons with his denials of lockdown-busting parties in Downing Street.

His supporters frequently attacked the Privileges Committee as a “witch hunt” and “kangaroo court” – with Johnson found to be complicit in the campaign against the panel investigating him.

Labour is attempting to bring Rishi Sunak into the political fallout of the report, accusing him of allowing his MPs to “undermine and attack Britian’s democratic institutions”.

Johnson allies aimed to ‘influence the outcome of the inquiry’

A much-anticipated follow-up report by the Privileges Committee has highlighted several Conservative MPs for criticism, for the way in which they disparaged the committee’s investigation into Johnson.

Other MPs quoted in the report include Mark Jenkinson, Sir Michael Fabricant, Brendan Clarke-Smith and Andrea Jenkyns.

The report also highlighted the involvement of Lord Cruddas and Lord Greenhalgh, both given peerages by Johnson, in a Conservative Post campaign putting pressure on the four Tory members of the committee to quit.

In a special report, the Privileges Committee named some of those involved and criticised their actions.

“Those members did not choose to engage through any proper process such as the submission of letters or evidence to our inquiry, but by attacking the members of the committee, in order to influence their judgement,” the committee’s report said.

Their aim was to “influence the outcome of the inquiry”, “impede the work of the committee by inducing members to resign from it”, “discredit the committee’s conclusions if those conclusions were not what they wanted” and “discredit the committee as a whole”, it said.

The report added: “The committee is particularly concerned about attacks mounted by experienced colleagues, including a serving minister of the Crown, a former leader of the House and a former secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport.”

In a reference to Dorries’ and Rees-Mogg’s broadcasting roles, the committee said “two of the members mounting the most vociferous attacks on the committee did so from the platform of their own hosted TV shows”.

Rees-Mogg has earned more than £64,000 since March for his TV work, registering 120 hours up until 25 May - equating to more than £530 per hour. Despite starting her Talk TV show in February, Dorries is yet to register any payment associated with the job.

The report said “pressure was applied particularly to Conservative members of the committee”.

It added: “This had the clear intention to drive those members off the committee and so to frustrate the intention of the House that the inquiry should be carried out, or to prevent the inquiry coming to a conclusion which the critics did not want.”

There were also “sustained attempts to undermine and challenge the impartiality” of the committee’s Labour chairwoman, Harriet Harman.

“This unprecedented and co-ordinated pressure did not affect the conduct or outcome of our inquiry. However, it had significant personal impact on individual members and raised significant security concerns.”

The committee said it will be for the House of Commons to consider “what further action, if any, to take” in respect of the MPs named in the report.

It suggested MPs should be asked to agree that seeking to “impugn the integrity of the committee” or attempt to “lobby or intimidate” its members “is itself capable of being a contempt” of Parliament.

Thangam Debbonaire MP, Labour’s Shadow Leader of the House of Commons, accused the Prime Minister of allowing his MPs to “undermine and attack Britian’s democratic institutions,” highlighting that among those criticised were a serving government minister and two former cabinet ministers.

She said: “It’s yet another example of the Prime Minister’s weakness and failure to hold his own ministers to high standards that Zac Goldsmith is still a government minister.

“It’s time Rishi Sunak condemned his Conservative colleagues who have sought to override Parliament’s standards system to get one of their own off the hook. He must accept the committee’s damming conclusions and make time for MPs to approve the report in full.

“While Rishi Sunak focuses on keeping the Boris Johnson sycophants in his own party happy, people up and down the country are left facing the cost of the Tory mortgage penalty and soaring rents. Keir Starmer will restore trust in politics, show leadership on the issues that matter to working people and act immediately to bring down the cost of living.”