The House of Commons privileges committee has released a supplementary report to its investigation into whether Boris Johnson misled parliament over partygate.
Seven MPs and three peers have been named in the committee’s report, entitled: “Co-ordinated campaign of interference in the work of the Privileges Committee.”
The group of MPs on the committee – led by veteran Labour MP Harriet Harman but with a majority of Conservatives – were unhappy they were criticised by allies of the former prime minister.
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Here is who is named and what they said – but the committee says this is not an exhaustive list, simply “the most disturbing examples”.
It is worth noting that all of those with either a knighthood or seat in the Lords were given their positions by Mr Johnson. Ms Dorries announced she was resigning as an MP after her elevation failed to materialise.
Nadine Dorries MP – former culture secretary
Ms Dorries is named four times in the report for the following reasons:
• She tweeted on 15 June: “We also need to keep a close eye on the careers of the Conservative MPs who sat on that committee. Do they suddenly find themselves on chicken runs into safe seats? Gongs? Were promises made? We need to know if they were. Justice has to be seen to be done at all levels of this process”;
• She said on TalkTV on 23 March that she didn’t think there was “ever a world” in which the committee would find Boris Johnson innocent, and they were always going to find him guilty. She accused them of having “changed the rules”;
• She tweeted on 3 March that the probe amounted to “a gross miscarriage of justice”;
• On 1 September, she was quoted in the Daily Mail as saying the inquiry was “biased” and a “Kafkaesque witch hunt”.
Lord Zac Goldsmith – current government minister
Lord Goldsmith is named once for a tweet.
• On 9 June he retweeted a post calling the inquiry a witch hunt and kangaroo court, and said: “Exactly this. There was only ever going to be one outcome and the evidence was totally irrelevant to it.”
Mark Jenkinson MP
Mr Jenkinson was also singled out for a tweet critical of the inquiry.
• On 9 June he tweeted: “When the witch hunt has been forgotten, future generations will look back in astonishment.”
Sir Michael Fabricant MP
The ardent ally of Mr Johnson was criticised for a tweet.
• On 9 June he tweeted: “Serious questions will need to be asked about the manner in which the investigation was conducted. These were no jurists as was apparent by the tone of the examination. The question of calibre, malice and prejudice will need to be answered now or by historians.”
Brendan Clarke-Smith MP – former government minister
Another MP singled out for a comment on Twitter labelling the probe a witch hunt.
• On 9 June he wrote: “Tonight we saw the end result of a parliamentary witch-hunt which would put a banana republic to shame. It is the people of this country who elect and decide on their MPs. It’s called democracy and we used to value it here. Sadly this no longer appears to be the case.”
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg MP – former government minister
The freshly knighted MP and long-time ally of Mr Johnson has been named for comments made on BBC Radio 4 and on GB News.
• On 22 March he was asked on BBC Radio 4 whether he shared the view that the process was a kangaroo court, he said: “I think it makes kangaroo courts look respectable”.
• On 20 March he said on GB News: “The privileges committee is not even a proper legal setup. It has a gossamer of constitutional propriety thrown over it, but it is in fact a political committee against Boris Johnson.”
Dame Andrea Jenkyns MP – former government minister
Dame Andrea was also singled out for labelling the committee a kangaroo court.
She tweeted on 21 March: “I hope to see [Boris Johnson] fully exonerated and to put an end to this kangaroo court.”
Dame Priti Patel MP – former home secretary
The former cabinet minister has also been singled out for comments made on GB News.
• She said on 16 March: “How can a handful of members of parliament in a committee, you know, really be that objective in light of some of the individual comments that have been made. I don’t want to name people, but you know, it is a fact, the lack of transparency, the lack of accountability… I think there is a culture of collusion quite frankly involved here.”
Lord Cruddas and Lord Greenhalgh – Conservative Democratic Organisation
Although not singled out in the way the MPs and peers listed above were, the Conservative Democratic Organisation – headed by Lord Cruddas and Lord Greenhalgh – was also named for an email campaign.
The report says: “Two members of the House of Lords, whose peerages were conferred on the recommendation of Mr Johnson, were among over 600 people who emailed committee members using the template email devised by Conservative Post.”
It calls the campaign “an example of selective pressure brought to bear on Conservative members of the committee”.
