Conservative MP Laura Farris has called for a fresh vote on an investigation by the House of Commons’ Privileges Committee, which is looking into whether former Prime Minister Boris Johnson misled lawmakers when he insisted that "all guidance was followed in Number 10" and that there were no parties in Downing Street during COVID lockdowns in 2020 and 2021.
Farris, an ex-Privileges Committee member who earlier urged Johnson’s resignation, said that “the context had fundamentally changed” since BoJo announced in July that he would quit as Prime Minister.
She told the Daily Telegraph that “It may be right that there is room for the House to consider the issue again.”
The MP explained that she quit the Committee because she “had understood” that the MPs “were really dealing with this issue of the ministerial code”. Farris added that BoJo is “no longer the PM so the ministerial code doesn’t apply.”
First published on the UK government’s website in 2021 and updated in May 2022, the ministerial code “sets out the standards of conduct expected of ministers and how they discharge their duties,” according to No 10.
Farris’ remarks come as Johnson’s allies are calling for the Committee probe to be abandoned in light of UK Queen Elizabeth II’s death earlier this week.
The Daily Mail cited one of the unnamed allies as saying that “After the Commons came together so wonderfully to bid farewell to Her Majesty, it all feels so unnecessary to carry on with this divisive investigation.”
This followed Lord David Pannick QC declaring the Committee investigation’s approach was “fundamentally flawed” and “wrong in principle” in a legal advice that was issued last week.
The crossbench peer also insisted that the Committee had “failed to understand that to prove contempt against” Johnson, “it is necessary to establish that he intended to mislead the House [of Commons],” namely, that he knew that what he told the House was incorrect.
Pannick warned that “the threat of contempt proceedings for unintentional mistakes would have a seriously chilling effect on all members.”
In April, the Commons approved Labour leader Keir Starmer’s motion calling for a Privileges Committee inquiry into whether BoJo misled Parliament over lockdown-breaching No 10 parties held between 2020 and 2021.
BoJo’s allies slammed the probe as "a witch-hunt" and "a kangaroo court" after the panel announced it could rule against the PM even if he hadn't deliberately misled MPs. As a result, No 10 called in Lord Pannick for a legal opinion, claiming that the inquiry could damage the functioning of the government.
Later in April, Johnson offered MPs what he described as a "whole-hearted apology" over breaking his own COVID-19 restrictions, but claimed that it "did not occur” to him that the 2020 birthday gathering thrown in his honor “could amount to a breach of the rules.”
The “Partygate” scandal is thought to have added significantly to BoJo’s July 7 announcement that he had decided to step down as the prime minister and Conservative Party leader.