Boris Johnson: Downing Street ‘crown party’ inquiry complete – ‘Everything I did I did in good faith’

For more than three hours the Immunity Committee of the House of Commons examined this afternoon the Boris Johnson on whether he was telling the truth in parliament in December 2021 when he claimed that he did not know that the so-called “corona party” of Downing Street, held in the midst of a pandemic, “they were breaking the rules” imposed by his government.

Its former prime minister Britain he repeated once more how everything she did she did in good faith. “I’m here to say with my hand on my heart that I did not lie to Parliament. The statements were made in good faith and based on what I honestly knew and believed at the time,” said Boris Johnson. Indeed, as he emphatically pointed out, if he believed that the Downing Street gatherings were illegal, he would not allow the official photographer of the prime minister’s office to take pictures.

For her part, the Chair of the Committee, Labor MP Harriet Harman, pointed out that misleading Parliament hinders the proper functioning of democracy and institutions, as trust is lost between members of parliament and citizens.

“Without this trust, the whole of parliamentary democracy is undermined”Ms. Harman pointedly noted.

The three possible scenarios

The Commission’s decision is expected in the coming weeks. There are three possible scenarios for the next day:

1. If the Commission decides that Boris Johnson was not in contempt of Parliament, even if some of his statements misled it, as he himself has already admitted, he will not impose any sanction on him, so the case stops here.
2. If Commission finds Boris Johnson in contempt of Parliament he will have to consider how serious this contempt was. That is, if he did it unintentionally, recklessly or deliberately. Depending on the final verdict, the Commission has the option of asking the former prime minister to apologize in writing, apologize in person in the House of Commons or even refer his case to the House of Commons with the question of suspension of his parliamentary duties .
3. If finally the Plenary imposes a penalty of suspension of his parliamentary duties 10 or more days, then the so-called “revocation request” of his headquarters will be automatically triggered. In that case, the registered voters of his constituency will be asked to decide whether they still want to be represented by Boris Johnson. If 10% of those voters sign the “recall petition”, Boris Johnson loses his seat and by-elections are called to elect a new MP. It is worth noting that the regulation allows Boris Johnson to be a candidate again to claim his seat.