British parliamentarians approved this Monday the report that concludes that former Prime Minister Boris Johnson lied to Parliament, in the case of the parties in Downing Street during the confinements due to the pandemic, applying the sanctions provided for the former Conservative leader.
With the approval of the report, the deputies accepted the sanctions provided, including the prohibition of access to Parliament to the former conservative leader, a condition granted to former heads of government.
The report was validated by 354 deputies, with only seven voting against, but many deputies, mostly Conservatives, abstained.
“It’s important to show people that there’s not one rule for them and another for us,” said Conservative MP Theresa May, Johnson’s predecessor as prime minister.
Opening the five-hour debate, House of Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt, also a Conservative who voted in favour, urged MPs to do what “they think is right.”
A handful of Johnson allies came to the former leader’s defense, including MP Lia Nici, who stressed that she found “no evidence that Boris Johnson knowingly, intentionally or recklessly misled Parliament.”
On Thursday, a British parliamentary committee of inquiry concluded that former Prime Minister Boris Johnson deliberately lied to MPs about the Downing Street party affair.
The 59-year-old former Conservative leader was notified two weeks ago of the damning results of the 14-month investigation into parties at London’s Downing Street residence during lockdowns imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
After knowing the conclusions, Boris Johnson resigned as deputy.
Reacting to the commission’s findings on Thursday, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was being targeted for “political assassination.”
A year after resigning from Downing Street, where he spent three years as Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has been prevented from returning to positions of power despite his possible candidacy for next year’s general elections.
According to an analysis by Agence France-Presse (AFP), the case reignited internal wars in the Conservative Party, in power for 13 years, with Boris Johnson still maintaining influential allies and power among the party’s bases for having achieved a historic victory in the 2019 general elections.
Only two Conservative MPs have followed Johnson’s lead and resigned their seats in Parliament earlier this month.
At the time, the Conservative Party feared a wave of departures and resignations that could weaken Rishi Sunak’s government.
Source: TSF
