A vote that does not suffer from any dispute. On Monday night, British MPs expelled Boris Johnson from parliament, validating a damning report that the former prime minister had lied to parliament on the “party” issue, jeopardizing his political future.
On the same day as Boris Johnson’s 59th birthday, elected members of the House of Commons endorsed the conclusions of the parliamentary committee on privileges and sanctions that it recommended against the former head of government.
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With 354 votes in favor and just 7 against, the report was largely approved by the House of Commons, which has a total of 650 elected officials. But many abstained, including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Boris Johnson, who was forced to resign from Downing Street last summer after a series of scandals, is deprived of his access card to Parliament’s premises, which former prime ministers usually have.
The 106-page report published on Thursday also recommended his suspension from parliament for 90 days – which would have led to an early election in his constituency – but the former leader handed over his term as deputy shortly after drawing the document’s findings. .
This consultation of deputies has little concrete impact, but it represents a humiliation for the charismatic and controversial conservative. He called the report a “witch hunt” and yelled when “political murder” was published.
In this report, which reignited divisions within the majority, the commission concluded that he had “misled the House on a matter of the utmost importance to the House and to the public” and that “on several occasions.”
“Restore Trust”
According to the British press, the former prime minister had asked his supporters to abstain rather than oppose the report.
Conservative and opposition deputies took turns for more than 5 hours in the House of Commons to give their opinion on the report, but beyond on the former leader and on “partygate”, these parties in open confinement during the Covid-19.
Parliamentary Relations Minister Penny Mordaunt said at the start of the session that she would vote in favor of the report, but without imposing voting guidelines: “All members must make their own decisions and others must leave them alone in this regard.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whose rivalry with Boris Johnson is more than ever out in the open, did not appear at the debate saying he did not want to “influence” the vote, but this earned him accusations of “weakness” on his part. of work.
Former Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May called on all MPs to vote in favor of the report’s conclusions to “help restore confidence in our parliamentary democracy”.
Boris Johnson “has fled the obligation to account for his lies (…). There has been no apology, he has not accepted an iota of responsibility,” denounced Labor Angela Eagle.
For one of Boris Johnson’s closest allies, Jacob Rees-Mogg, the commission “deliberately tried to adopt the most unfavorable interpretation (…) of Boris Johnson’s activities.”
Boris Johnson’s new life
The former leader, who will soon be a father for the eighth time, remains popular in his party for having implanted Brexit. In 2019 he came to power after a wide electoral victory.
But according to a poll, 69% of Britons and 51% of Conservative voters believe that he did lie to Parliament.
Boris Johnson, a former journalist, has already found a new activity: he has been hired as a columnist for the conservative tabloid Daily Mail.
On Sunday, a new video published by The Mirror newspaper showing members of the Conservative party dancing at a party during the pandemic in defiance of social distancing rules drew strong criticism.
Source: BFM TV
