Boris Johnson Admits Misleading Parliament On Partygate 'In Good Faith' - Committee

Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published March 22, 2023 | 01:00 AM

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd March, 2023) Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson admitted he had misled the parliament on the matter of parties held at his residence at 10 Downing Street during the nationwide lockdown, however did it "in good faith," according to his written note published by the House of Commons Privileges Committee on Tuesday.

On Monday, the committee said it received a document from Johnson, which was fraught with typos and errors, but contained "no new documentary evidence." Johnson, in turn, claimed his submission proved his innocence. The hearing for the oral part of the evidence is scheduled for Wednesday.

"So I accept that the House of Commons was misled by my statements that the Rules and Guidance had been followed completely at No. 10. But when the statements were made, they were made in good faith and on the basis of what I honestly knew and believed at the time," Johnson said in the document.

The former prime minister said he "would never have dreamed of" misleading the parliament on December 1, December 8 of 2021 or any other date.

In late June, the committee announced it was seeking witnesses and evidence to help establish whether Johnson had misled the parliament over the so-called Partygate scandal. In early March, 2022, the committee published a report detailing four such cases.

During his tenure as Prime Minister, Johnson grappled with calls to resign after a series of leaks showed that several social gatherings were held at his offices throughout 2020 and 2021, flouting COVID-19 social distancing rules. The situation was aggravated by the reports that two more parties were held on April 16 last year, right before Prince Philip's funeral, when the UK still maintained COVID-19 restrictions and was in national mourning. Johnson later apologized and said he had paid the fine issued by the Metropolitan Police. Being under pressure over the scandal, Johnson announced his resignation on July 7.