Boris Johnson has resigned with immediate effect !

To my mind the incompetence of lockdown/Covid management is a separate thing from lying to Parliament and the country, and should be treated as such.

There could be mitigation for mistakes made in the pandemic, but a lie is a lie. Not only that but the lies from one MP make people think that they are 'all the same'. It's worse when it is a PM, and it is not a case of having been given the wrong information - you know when you've been to a party, even if you don't remember how you got home!

Ouch.

‘ 95. On 18 May 2023 the Government, without prior notice to us, supplied us with new evidence relating to 16 gatherings at No. 10 and at Chequers. Accompanying this was a statement by the Government that: “As part of their work preparing Boris Johnson’s witness statement for the Covid Inquiry (due to be filed on 29 May), the counsel team supporting Mr Johnson identified a number of diary entries as potentially problematic. These entries […] are based on an assessment by Government Legal Department as to events/activities which could reasonably be considered to constitute breaches of Covid Regulations.” We assessed that this material was potentially relevant to our inquiry and accepted it as formal evidence. The following day, 19 May, we disclosed the material to Mr Johnson and requested that he supply us with comments, which we subsequently received. We also asked the Cabinet Office to supply us with further contextual material about the 16 events including the Prime Minister’s diary for each day, and subsequently made a formal Order that they should supply us with any agendas or minutes or correspondence that might have a bearing on whether the events were work-related. The Cabinet Office has provided us with this material.

96. From Mr Johnson’s lawyers we received on 22 May a statement that: “None of the events referred to in the documents constitute breaches of Covid Regulations and nobody has ever raised any concerns whatsoever with Mr Johnson about them. Mr Johnson does not accept that any of the events are relevant to the Privileges Committee’s investigation.” ‘

And double ouch

‘97… We requested that Mr Johnson supply specific justifications for each gathering, and on 2 June he made further submissions in response to this request.

98. Mr Johnson has provided, under a statement of truth, explanations of the 16 events referred to in the recent material submitted to us by the Government. We have no evidence conflicting with his account. We do not wish to incur the further delay to our inquiry that would result from a detailed investigation of these events, and therefore we treat Mr Johnson’s explanations as prima facie true. If for any reasons it subsequently emerges that Mr Johnson’s explanations are not true, then he may have committed a further contempt.’

Johnson has never seen any reason to tell the truth, for the whole of his life.
The country has always known it, and yet for some inexplicable reason unknown to man, he was chosen as party leader and then PM.

We have got what we deserve for such gross misjudgement.

He must be a shoe-in for a job with GB News😀😀😀😀

WWM because, as you say, he lies all the time, para 98 is a threat to his future plans to return to Parliament. Its neatly and forensically done.

Thanks for the precise - I’m fiddling in the garden and coming in for short coffee breaks, so haven’t read it.

I also reckon that his Honours list should now be dishonoured as many of the recipients also took part in the law breaking.

I do think that all those MPs of which there are a tiny few who are impugning the report should also be sanctioned for their immoderate language and attacks on our democratic process.

This committee and parliament are all we have got between democracy and anarchy.

Im hanging around waiting for an appointment, so have time for reading.

It’s forensically detailed and structured, with a wealth of evidence, and rebuts a number of the accusations of the sort seen in this and related threads, showing why misleading Parliament matters, and how many chances for rebuttal Johnson had, and would have had.

It is pleasing to see that Parliament is sovereign, although I note a shedload of very right-wingers (whose mantra that has been for seven years) complaining bitterly that it’s the wrong sort of sovereignty. That’s also, I cannot lie, pleasing.

Whitewavemark2

I do think that all those MPs of which there are a tiny few who are impugning the report should also be sanctioned for their immoderate language and attacks on our democratic process.

This committee and parliament are all we have got between democracy and anarchy.

Oh, frabjous day: there is to be a separate report on this!

While it's easy enough to fine, here is the link to the Privilege's Committee's report:

committees.parliament.uk/publications/40412/documents/197199/default/

To find

Yes I know but time…… us retirees are soooooo busy😀😀😀😀😀

I have started a separate thread on this. The discussion will no doubt run for some time and such an epic report seems to justify it.

DaisyAnneReturns

I have started a separate thread on this. The discussion will no doubt run for some time and such an epic report seems to justify it.

Yes

What took you so long?


Twitter

Wyllow3

A Covid conspiracy theorist in our midst? Can’t believe what I’m reading.

Where is the conspiracy? I am merely reiterating my already well known views about lockdowns. Much of what I have said from the very beginning is starting to be revealed as true in research projects from various international sources. One of the worst aspects of the last three years is how reasoned dissenting voices were silenced in favour of a narrative of fear.

I think the idea that lockdowns caused a lot of suffering is a mainstream idea rather than a conspiracy theory. If you work in education social care, any public service really we spend our life analysing the damage that was caused by lockdowns.
That from me isnt a particular criticism of lockdowns it's just reality.

I think people have forgotten that the first virus, up until we started to be vaccinated, was a killer. And no one knew if it would mutate into an even bigger killer.