LONDON – A committee of British lawmakers on Thursday slammed allies of Boris Johnson in Parliament for trying to interfere with their investigation into whether the former prime minister lied about rule-flouting parties in his office during the coronavirus pandemic.
The House of Commons Privileges Committee said senior Conservatives, including past Cabinet ministers under Johnson, “took it upon themselves to undermine procedures of the House of Commons.”
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It said Johnson allies — including former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries and ex-House of Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg — mounted “vociferous attacks” on the committee on social media, radio and television. The forums for the attacks included shows hosted by Dorries and Rees-Mogg themselves on a right-wing news channel, the panel said.
They and several other legislators called the ethics probe into Johnson a “kangaroo court,” a “witch hunt” and a miscarriage of justice – echoing language used by the embattled former prime minister.
The eight Johnson allies called out in the report include Zac Goldsmith, a member of the House of Lords and a serving Foreign Office minister.
The committee – which has four Conservative members and three from opposition parties – said the goal of such statements was “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.”
Earlier this month the committee issued a scathing report on Johnson’s behavior over the “partygate” scandal, saying he lied about lockdown-breaching parties and was complicit in a campaign to intimidate those investigating his conduct.
The committee said Johnson’s actions were such a flagrant violation of the rules that they warranted a 90-day suspension from Parliament, though he avoided that ignominy by resigning as a lawmaker after the committee gave him advance notice of its findings.
The committee’s report was endorsed by the House of Commons last week by a vote of 354 to 7.
The committee does not have the power to sanction the lawmakers it accused Thursday of intimidation – only the Commons as a whole can do that. It recommended that lawmakers pass a motion stating that, “Members of this House should not impugn the integrity of that Committee or its members or attempt to lobby or intimidate those members or to encourage others to do so.”
“It will be for the House to consider what further action, if any, to take in respect of Members of the House referred to in this special report,” the committee said.