By Andrew MacAskill
LONDON (Reuters) - British former prime minister Boris Johnson deliberately misled parliament about illegal parties held at his Downing Street office during COVID-19 lockdowns, a committee of lawmakers said on Thursday after rejecting his central defence.
Johnson quit as a member of parliament last week before the report's publication. He has accused the privileges committee, a parliamentary standards body that has investigated Johnson, of mounting a "witch-hunt" and behaving like a "kangaroo court".
The former prime minister said it was a lie to say he deliberately misled parliament and called the report a charade.
Below are the main findings from the report into Johnson's behaviour:
JOHNSON DELIBERATELY MISLED PARLIAMENT
The committee offered a damning verdict on Johnson's honesty and conduct, concluding that he had deliberately and repeatedly misled parliament.
The report said: "We came to the view that some of Mr Johnson’s denials and explanations were so disingenuous that they were by their very nature deliberate attempts to mislead the Committee and the House, while others demonstrated deliberation because of the frequency with which he closed his mind to the truth."
JOHNSON WOULD HAVE FACED 90-DAY SUSPENSION FROM PARLIAMENT
The Committee said it would have recommended a suspension of three months from the House of Commons for Johnson if he had not resigned. Such a sanction would have triggered a possible election for his parliamentary seat had he not resigned.
The committee said: "if he had not resigned his seat, we would have recommended that he be suspended from the service of the House for 90 days for repeated contempts and for seeking to undermine the parliamentary process".
FIVE WAYS JOHNSON COMMITTED CONTEMPTS OF PARLIAMENT
The committee found that Johnson had committed five contempts of parliament.
The report found that he deliberately misled parliament; lied to the committee; breached the confidence of the committee; undermined the committee and the democratic process; and was complicit in a campaign of abuse and attempted intimidation of the committee.
UNPRECEDENTED BEHAVIOUR FROM A PRIME MINISTER
The recommended sanction was severe because he is a former prime minister.
The committee said: "The contempt was all the more serious because it was committed by the prime minister, the most senior member of the government. There is no precedent for a Prime Minister having been found to have deliberately misled the House."
SIX EVENTS
The committee listed six events in Downing Street where lockdown rules were not observed and concluded that Johnson could not have believed that these were "essential for work purposes".
The report said it is "unlikely on the balance of probabilities that Mr Johnson, in the light of his cumulative direct personal experience of these events, could have genuinely believed that the rules or guidance were being complied with”.
OTHER GATHERINGS
The committee said last month the government provided new evidence relating to 16 further gatherings in Downing Street and at the prime minister's country residence, Chequers, where the lockdown rules may have been broken.
However, it said it accepted Johnson's explanations as it did not want the report delayed by further investigations.
"If for any reasons it subsequently emerges that Mr Johnson’s explanations are not true, then he may have committed a further contempt," the report said.
ATTACK ON COMMITTEE WAS FURTHER CONTEMPT OF PARLIAMENT
The committee said: "This attack on a committee carrying out its remit from the democratically elected House itself amounts to an attack on our democratic institutions. We consider that these statements are completely unacceptable. In our view this conduct, together with the egregious breach of confidentiality, is a serious further contempt."
JOHNSON SHOULD BE DENIED PARLIAMENT PASS
Former members of parliament are normally entitled to a pass that gives them access to parliamentary estate allowing them to socialise in various bars and restaurants even when they have quit politics.
The committee said: "In view of the fact that Mr Johnson is no longer a member, we recommend that he should not be granted a former member’s pass."
TWO MEMBERS OF COMMITTEE WANTED JOHNSON TO BE EXPELLED FROM PARLIAMENT
Two members of parliament on the committee – one Labour and the other from the Scottish National Party – wanted Johnson to be expelled from parliament. But the final report and sanction was signed off unanimously by all seven members.