For more than three hours, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson responded to the House of Commons Privileges Committee about his role during the first phase of the pandemic, when citizens were forced to stay home and comply with a series of restrictions on their freedoms while 10 Downing Street was closed. host to a number of parties. He was also asked how he informed delegates in what became known as Partygate, that is, if he lied. On the same day, the House of Commons approved the Windsor Agreement on Northern Ireland. Johnson led a Tory uprising and said the deal was “unacceptable” as Northern Ireland would remain “trapped by the EU legal order”.
A tense, belligerent and at times angry Boris Johnson reiterated under oath that he had not deliberately lied to MPs when he denied breaching restrictions imposed during the pandemic to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
The parliamentary committee was tasked with an investigation to find out whether Johnson had lied in parliament, which if confirmed could lead to the suspension of deputies, new elections in his constituency and even loss of office.
“I am here to say in all honesty that I have not lied to the House. The statements are made in good faith and are based on what I honestly knew and believed at the time.”
In his written defence, published the day before, Boris argued that his advisers had ensured that no rule had been broken during the numerous “work meetings” held at government headquarters during the quarantine. “Anyone who thinks we were partying during quarantine just doesn’t know what they’re talking about,” he said.
Johnson explained that in an intense work environment, with endless hours of work to control the pandemic, it was “impossible” to keep a six-foot distance between people in an old building with narrow corridors and cramped rooms. Social distancing measures were being followed “to the extent of our capabilities,” he stated.
He also argued that there was an “official photographer” recording gatherings such as Christmas celebrations or employee farewell gatherings and that it would be “ridiculous” to do so if they were illegal parties. And that if it was “obvious” to him that they were, it would have been to other officials present, including the current Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, then Finance Minister.
“There were a number of days over a 20-month period where meetings were held in Downing Street that went beyond the point where they could be considered necessary for business purposes. That was wrong. I regret it bitterly,” he admitted. However, he said the commission found “nothing to show that he had been informed in advance that the events of issue #10 were illegal” and nothing to show that anyone “worryed him about an event, either before or after it happened.”
With the opposition of Johnson and his successor Liz Truss – and 20 other Conservative and Unionist MPs – Parliament approved the Windsor agreement reached between London and Brussels last month.
The document updates the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol negotiated in 2020 by Boris Johnson, a provision that kept Northern Ireland within the European Single Market, aiming to avoid a physical border with the Republic of Ireland, which would jeopardize peace between Republicans. to threaten. and unionists. The main novelty is the so-called “Stormont brake”, which gives Northern Ireland MEPs a right of veto over new EU rules to be applied in that British region.
Sunak shows income
Not without hearing criticism of the chosen day, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak released his tax return. The documents show that the former investment banker has earned £4.7 million (€5.3 million) over the past three years and paid a total of more than £1 million in taxes. Last year alone, he earned £1.9 million – £156,000 as minister and prime minister and the rest from investment and capital income.
Sunak has been under pressure to publish the tax return since it was revealed that the woman, Akshata Murty, enjoyed non-resident status when he was finance minister. That is, Murty paid no UK tax on dividends from his interest in his billionaire father’s software company Infosys. According to the list of millionaires compiled by the Sunday timesthe couple has a fortune of more than 820 million euros, more than that of King Carlos III.
Source: DN
