Johnson: large Commons majority agrees he is guilty

 But too many MPs decline to stand up for parliamentary democracy

Last Monday in the Commons, the House divided:

Ayes

354

Noes

7

Resolved,

That this House approves the Fifth Report from the Committee of Privileges (HC 564).

That report, 108 pages in total, found the former prime minister, Boris Johnson, guilty of lying to Parliament on several occasions and further of mendaciously attacking the committee on being made aware of its findings pre-publication. 

The vote crowned a debate of over six hours, which Liberal Democrats felt was excessive. All that was needed was a formal endorsement. In that spirit, the sole LD contribution was by Christine Jardine who said in one of the shortest speeches all that needed to be said and no more.

Christine Jardine
(Edinburgh West) (LD)

I rise to speak in support of the Committee’s report. I thank the Committee and its members for all the work they have done in protecting us and our privilege in the work that we do for our constituents, as the Leader of the House pointed out earlier.

Many of us, I am sure, hope that this will be the final act in one of the most disreputable episodes in British politics for many years. At that time, the country was looking to its premier elected politician—its Prime Minister—to lead us through the most difficult and traumatic of times, which I hope we never have to endure again. Lives were lost; lives were interrupted for two years; young people could not sit their exams, complete their education or start employment; people lost loved ones. The people of this country were looking to this place and the rules it was making, which were being announced from No. 10, and trusting that everything was being done in their best interests. They were following those rules and having faith in those who had set them.

I believe this is a day not for party politics, but for us all, wherever we may sit in this place, to recognise the significance of supporting the report, the moment for us and our constituents, and, as others have said, our democracy. In criticising the Committee and rejecting the validity of its conclusions, Mr Johnson attacks each of us and what we believe in. He shows contempt for the people whom we serve, and whom he purported to serve. He undermined perhaps the most intangible, and yet invaluable, foundation of our democracy: trust and confidence that our politicians, who have been voted for, tell us the truth in everything they do, and in everything they say that we, the public, must do in difficult times.

The Leader of the House talked about the real-life consequences of what we decide today and I believe that they cannot be underestimated. When we return to our constituencies from this place, our constituents will be looking to us to see how we have stood up for them, defended them and protested at the way in which they were let down by the incumbent of No. 10. They will look to us to recognise what they endured—the sacrifices that they willingly made.

Each one of us carries the title “honourable” or “right honourable”. If it is not to become a meaningless sobriquet in the 21st century, we have to live up to that today in what we decide and in what we do. The only way that we can do that is by supporting the Committee, the work that it did, the evidence that it considered and the conclusion that it came to. The honour of this House and of this democracy is at stake and we cannot risk that.

However, the debate did allow a few members (all on the Conservative side) to express some reservations about the report. 

Blair lied to the Commons and got away with it

This argument was most clearly put by Bob Seely (Isle of Wight) who, as a veteran of the Iraq invasion, was rightly aggrieved that the war had started on a false pretext. It has to be said that it was not clear at the time that, whatever the more cynical of us may have felt, Blair did not genuinely believe in the necessity for war. Besides, Blair did make a partial apology in response to the Chilcott Inquiry. Johnson has never shown remorse. Seely clearly did not think that two wrongs make a right and declared that he would vote to accept the committee's report.

The proposed punishment was too harsh

This was the reason given by Michael Gove (on TV - he did not show up for the debate) for abstaining. The speciousness of this argument was exposed in Penny Mordaunt's stern and sober introduction to the debate. She emphasised that the motion on the table was amendable, but no amendments had been submitted.

The committee was biased because the Labour chair had publicly criticised Johnson

But the committee had a Conservative majority, and Johnson expressed no reservations as to its composition or chairmanship when it was set up. Chairman Harriet Harman, qualified both as solicitor and barrister, would have observed the niceties of the situation throughout.

Johnson did not "knowingly" mislead the House

The committee found ample evidence to the contrary. To confirm Johnson's attitude to the truth, Sir Stephen Timms recounted an episode on employment figures in which the then prime minister continued to repeat a lie even after he had knowingly been corrected.

There was no need for the lockdowns because Covid-19 was not dangerous

This view was expressed by Andrew Bridgen, whose earlier stated belief that vaccination was a crime against the populace akin to the Holocaust caused him to lose the Conservative whip. There were some other mutterings against lockdown, but as the Speaker and his deputies reminded the House, the debate was about the conduct of Boris Johnson, not the rights and wrongs of lockdown.

Parliament was navel-gazing

From Andrew Bridgen: "I am not sure that the public in the real world care too much about this any more." That was not the experience of Sir Chris Bryant on the doorsteps, and he went on to point out that, between elections, only Parliament may hold her members to account:

The House has always claimed, as the Leader of the House said in her excellent speech, exclusive cognisance; that is to say, apart from the voters and the criminal law, the only body that can discipline, suspend or expel a duly elected Member of the House is the House of Commons in its entirety. I still hold to that principle. It is why any decision or recommendation to suspend or expel a Member that comes from the Standards Committee or the Independent Expert Panel has to be approved by the whole House. It is also why the only way to proceed when there is an allegation that a Member has committed a contempt of Parliament, for instance by misleading the House, is via a Committee of the House and a decision of the whole House. That is why we have to have the motion today and had to have the Committee on Privileges. It cannot, I believe, be a court of law. It has to be a Committee of the House. I do not think some commentators have fully understood that, including Lord Pannick and some former Leaders of the House.

I say to those who have attacked the process that they should be very careful of what they seek. There are those who would prefer lying to Parliament to be a criminal offence, justiciable and punishable by the courts, but that would drive a coach and horses through the Bill of Rights principle that

“freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament.”

So I am left feeling that those who attack the process simply do not believe that there should be any process for determining whether a Member has lied to the House. As I have said before, I kind of admire the personal loyalty, but I dislike the attitude because it is in effect an excuse for appalling behaviour.

Johnson did nothing wrong, even inadvertently

and it was his officials who broke the law. Only one member took this extreme view, and Lia Nici did not carry her convictions into the No lobby.

The proposed punishment was far too soft

This was expressed by Martin Docherty-Hughes (SNP) who felt that Parliament looked ridiculous if the only sanction they could impose on a member who had resigned was to take away his pass. Docherty-Hughes called for Johnson's honours list to be quashed in its entirety. He also agreed with party colleague David Linden that Johnson's membership of the Privy Council be rescinded, a call that was repeated at Thursday's Business Questions. 

Who stayed home?

On such an important matter of principle, one hoped that all honourable and right honourable members would have stood by the rights and privileges of Parliament by voting for the motion on the table. If ill, they should have used the proxy vote which was available to them, as Diane Abbott, Amy Callaghan, Anne McLaughlin, Feryal Clark, John Nicolson, Tony Lloyd and Theo Clarke did. Those who have a question to answer were:

Adam Afriye (Con, Windsor)

Afzal Khan (Lab, Manchester Gorton)

Alan Mak (Con, Havant)

Alberto Costa (Con, South Leicestershire)

Alex Burghart (Con, Brentwood and Ongar)

Alex Cunningham (Lab, Stockton North)

Alexander Stafford (Con, Rother Valley)

Alison Thewliss (SNP, Glasgow Central)

Alister Jack (Con, Dumfries and Galloway)

Alok Sharma (Con, Reading West)

Alun Cairns (Con, Vale of Glamorgan)

Amanda Milling (Con, Cannock Chase)

Amanda Solloway (Con, Derby North)

Andrea Jenkyns (Con, Morley and Outwood)

Andrew Griffith (Con, Arundel and South Downs)

Andrew Percy (Con, Brigg and Goole)

Andrew Rosindell (Con, Romford) 

Andrew Stephenson (Con, Pendle)

Angela Crawley (SNP, Lanark and Hamilton East)

Angus MacNeil (SNP, Na h-Eileanan an Iar)

Anna Firth (Con, Southend West)

Anne Marie Morris (Con, Newton Abbot)

Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Con, Berwick-upon-Tweed)

Antony Higginbotham (Con, Burnley)

Bambos Charalambos (Lab, Enfield Southgate)

Ben Bradley (Con, Mansfield)

Ben Everitt (Con, Milton Keynes North)

Ben Wallace (Con, Wyre and Preston North)

Beth Winter (Lab, Cynon Valley)

Bill Wiggin (Con, North Herefordshire)

Bob Blackman (Con, Harrow East)

Bob Stewart (Con, Beckenham)
Brandon Lewis (Con, Great Yarmouth)

Brendan Clarke-Smith (Con, Bassetlaw)

Carla Lockhart (DUP, Upper Bann)

Caroline Dinenage (Con, Gosport)

Caroline Johnson (Con, Sleaford and North Hykeham)

Cherilyn Mackrory (Con, Truro and Falmouth)

Chris Clarkson (Con, Heywood and Middleton)

Chris Grayling (Con, Epsom and Ewell)

Chris Green (Con, Bolton West)

Chris Heaton-Harris (Con, Daventry)

Chris Law (SNP, Dundee West)

Chris Loder (Con, West Dorset)

Christina Rees (Ind, Neath)

Christopher Chope (Con, Christchurch)

Christopher Pincher (Ind, Tamworth)

Claire Coutinho (Con, East Surrey)

Claire Hanna (SDLP, Belfast South)

Claudia Webbe (Ind, Leicester East)

Conor Burns (Con, Bournemouth West)

Conor McGinn (Lab, St Helens North)

Craig Mackinlay (Con, South Thanet)

Craig Tracey (Con, North Warwickshire)

Craig Whittaker (Con, Calder Valley)

Craig Williams (Con, Montgomeryshire)

Damian Collins (Con, Folkestone and Hythe)

Damien Moore (Con, Southport)

Danny Kruger (Con, Devizes)

Darren Henry (Con, Broxtowe)

David Evennett (Con. Bexleyheath and Crayford)

David Johnston (Con, Wantage)

David Jones (Con, Clwyd West)

David Morris (Con, Morecambe and Lunesdale)

David Simmonds (Con, Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)

Dean Russell (Con, Watford)

Dehenna Davison (Con. Bishop Auckland)

Derek Thomas (Con, St Ives)

Dominic Raab (Con, Esher and Walton)

Douglas Chapman (SNP, Dunfermline and West Fife)

Eddie Hughes (Con, Walsall North)

Edward Leigh (Con, Gainsborough)

Edward Timpson (Con, Eddisbury)

Esther McVey (Con, Tatton)

Gagan Mohindra (Con, South West Hertfordshire)

Gareth Bacon (Con, Orpington)

Gareth Johnson (Con, Dartford)

Gareth Thomas (Lab, Harrow West) 

Gavin Robinson (DUP, Belfast East)

Gavin Williamson (Con, South Staffordshire)

George Eustice (Con, Camborne and Redruth)

Geraint Davies (Ind, Swansea West)

Giles Watling (Con, Clacton)

Gordon Henderson (Con, Sittingbourne and Sheppey)

Graham Stuart (Con, Beverley and Holderness)

Grant Shapps (Con, Welwyn Hatfield)

Greg Knight (Con, East Yorkshire)

Greg Smith (Con, Buckingham)

Gregory Campbell (DUP, East Londonderry)

Helen Grant (Con, Maidstone and The Weald)

Helen Whately (Con, Faversham and Mid Kent)

Henry Smith (Con, Crawley)

Huw Merriman (Con, Bexhill and Battle)

Iain Duncan Smith (Con, Chingford and Woodford)

Iain Stewart (Con. Milton Keynes South)

Ian Levy (Con, Blyth Valley)

Ian Liddell-Grainger (Con, Bridgwater and West Somerset)

Ian Paisley (DUP, North Antrim)

Jack Brereton (Con, Stoke-on-Trent South)

Jack Lopresti (Con. Filton and Bradley Stoke)

Jacob Rees-Mogg (Con, North East Somerset)

Jacob Young (Con, Redcar)

Jake Berry (Con, Rossendale and Darwen)

James Cartlidge (Con, South Suffolk)

James Cleverly (Con, Braintree)

James Daly (Con, Bury North)

James Davies (Con, Vale of Clwyd)

James Duddridge (Con, Rochford and Southend East)

James Gray (Con, North Wiltshire)

James Grundy (Con, Leigh)

James Heappey (Con, Wells)

James Morris (Con, Halesowen and Rowley Regis)

James Wild (Con, North West Norfolk)

Jamie Wallis (Con, Bridgend)

Jane Hunt (Con, Loughborough)

Jane Stevenson (Con, Wolverhampton North East)

Jason McCartney (Con. Colne Valley)

Jeffrey Donaldson (DUP, Lagan Valley)

Jeremy Corbyn (Ind, Islington North)

Jeremy Hunt (Con, South West Surrey)

Jeremy Quin (Con, Horsham)

Jeremy Wright (Con, Kenilworth and Southam)

Jill Mortimer (Con, Hartlepool)

Jim Shannon (DUP, Strangford)

Joanna Cherry (SNP, Edinburgh South West)

John Glen (Con, Salisbury)

John Hayes (Con, South Holland and The Deepings)

John Howell (Con, Henley)

John Redwood (Con, Wokingham)

John Whittingdale (Con, Maldon)

Johnny McNally (SNP, Falkirk)

Johnny Mercer (Con, Plymouth Moor View)

Jonathan Gullis (Con, Stoke-on-Trent North)

Jonathan Lord (Con. Woking)

Judith Cummins (Lab, Bradford South)

Julia Lopez (Con, Hornchurch and Upminster)

Julian Knight (Ind, Solihull)

Julian Sturdy (Con, York Outer)

Justin Tomlinson (Con, North Swindon)

Kate Griffiths (Con, Burton)

Katherine Fletcher (Con. South Ribble)

Kelly Tolhurst (Con, Rochester and Stroud)

Kemi Badenoch (Con, Saffron Walden)

Kenny MacAskill (ALBA, East Lothian)

Kevin Foster (Con. Torbay)

Kevin Hollinrake (Con, Thirsk and Malton)

Kieran Mullan (Con, Crewe and Nantwich)

Kit Malthouse (Con, North West Hampshire)

Kwasi Kwarteng (Con, Spelthorne)

Laura Trott (Con, Sevenoaks)

Lee Anderson (Con. Ashfield)

Leo Docherty (Con, Aldershot)

Lia Nici (Con, Great Grimsby)

Liam Fox (Con, North Somerset)

Lisa Cameron (SNP, East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)

Liz Truss (Con, South West Norfolk)

Louie French (Con, Old Bexley and Sidcup)

Louise Haigh (Lab, Sheffield Heeley)

Lucy Allan (Con, Telford)

Lucy Frazer (Con, South East Cambridgeshire)

Marco Longhi (Con, Dudley North)

Marcus Fysh (Con, Yeovil)

Marcus Jones (Con, Nuneaton)

Margaret Beckett (Lab, Derby South)

Margaret Ferrier (Ind, Rutherglen)

Maria Caulfield (Con. Lewes)

Mark Eastwood (Con, Dewsbury)

Mark Francois (Con, Rayleigh and Wickford)

Mark Garnier (Con, Wyre Forest)

Mark Harper (Con, Forest of Dean)

Mark Hendrick (Lab, Preston)

Mark Jenkinson (Con, Workington)

Mark Logan (Con, Bolton North East)

Mark Menzies (Con. Fylde)

Mark Pawsey (Con, Rugby)

Mark Pritchard (Con, The Wrekin)

Mark Spencer (Con, Sherwood)

Mary Robinson (Con, Cheadle)

Matt Vickers (Con, Stockton South)

Matt Warman (Con, Boston and Skegness)

Matthew Offord (Con. Hendon)

Mel Stride (Con, Central Devon)

Mhairi Black (SNP, Paisley and Renfrewshire South)

Michael Fabricant (Con, Lichfield)

Michael Gove (Con, Surrey Heath)

Michael Tomlinson (Con, Mid Dorset and North Poole)

Michele Donelan (Con, Chippenham)

Mick Whitley (Lab, Birkenhead)

Mike Freer (Con, Finchley and Golders Green)

Mike Penning (Con, Hemel Hempstead)

Mike Wood (Con, Dudley South)

Miriam Cates (Con, Penistone and Stocksbridge)

Nadhim Zahawi (Con. Stratford-on-Avon)

Nadine Dorries (Con, Mid Bedfordshire)

Natalie Elphicke (Con, Dover)

Naz Shah (Lab, Bradford West)

Neil Hudson (Con, Penrith and The Border)

Neil O'Brien (Con, Harborough)

Nigel Adams (Con, Selby and Ainsty)

Nigel Huddleston (Con, Mid Worcestershire)

Nus Ghani (Con, Wealden)

Oliver Dowden (Con, Hertsmere)

Oliver Heald (Con, North East Hertfordshire)

Owen Thompson (SNP, Midlothian)

Paul Beresford (Con. Mole Valley)

Paul Bristow (Con, Peterborough)

Paul Girvan (DUP, South Antrim)

Paul Howell (Con, Sedgefield)

Paul Maynard (Con, Blackpool North and Cleveleys)

Pauline Latham (Con, Mid Derbyshire)

Peter Bone (Con, Wellingborough)

Philip Davies (Con, Shipley)

Philip Hollobone (Con, Kettering)

Preet Gill (Lab, Birmingham Edgbaston)

Priti Patel (Con, Witham)

Rachel Maclean (Con, Redditch)

Ranil Jayawardena (Con, North East Hampshire)

Rebecca Harris (Con, Castle Point)

Richard Bacon (Con, South Norfolk)

Richard Drax (Con, South Dorset)

Rehman Chishti (Con, Gillingham and Rainham)

Richard Holden (Con, North West Durham)

Rishi Sunak (Con, Richmond (Yorks))

Rob Butler (Con, Aylesbury)

Robert Courts (Con, Witney)

Robert Goodwill (Con, Scarborough and Whitby)

Robert Halfon (Con. Harlow)

Robert Jenrick (Con, Newark)

Robin Millar (Con, Aberconwy)

Roger Gale (Con, North Thanet)

Rosie Duffield (Lab, Canterbury)

Royston Smith (Con, Southampton Itchen)

Ruth Jones (Lab, Newport West)

Sajid Javid (Con, Bromsgrove)

Sally Ann Hart (Con, Hastings and Rye)

Sammy Wilson (DUP, East Antrim)

Saqib Bhatti (Con, Meriden)

Sara Britcliffe (Con, Hyndburn)

Sarah Atherton (Con, Wrexham)

Sarah Dines (Con, Derbyshire Dales)

Scott Benton (Con, Blackpool South)

Scott Mann (Con, North Cornwall)

Shailesh Vara (Con, North West Cambridgeshire)

Shaun Bailey (Con, West Bromwich West)

Sheryll Murray (Con, South East Cornwall)

Simon Baynes (Con, Clwyd South)

Simon Clarke (Con, Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)

Simon Hoare (Con, North Dorset)

Siobhan Baillie (Con, Stroud)

Stephen McPartland (Con, Stevenage)

Stephen Metcalfe (Con, South Basildon and East Thurrock)

Steve Barclay (Con, North East Cambridgeshire)

Steve Double (Con, St Austell and Newquay)

Stewart McDonald (SNP, Glasgow South)

Stuart Anderson (Con, Wolverhampton South West)

Stuart Andrew (Con, Pudsey)

Suella Braverman (Con. Fareham)

Suzanne Webb (Con, Stourbridge)

Theresa Villiers (Con, Chipping Barnet)

Therese Coffey (Con, Suffolk Coastal)

Tom Hunt (Con, Ipswich) 

Tom Pursglove (Con, Corby)

Tom Randall (Con, Gedling)

Tommy Sheppard (SNP, Edinburgh East)

Tonia Antoniazzi (Lab, Gower)

Tracey Crouch (Con, Chatham and Aylesford)

Trudy Harrison (Con, Copeland)

Victoria Atkins (Con, Louth and Horncastle)

Virginia Crosbie (Con, Ynys Mon)

Wendy Morton (Con, Aldridge-Brownhills)

Wes Streeting (Lab, Ilford North)

Will Quince (Con, Colchester)

Yasmin Qureshi (Lab, Bolton South East)

 

[Sinn Fein MPs never attend Westminster; the Speaker and his deputies do not vote]