- By Michael Shields McNamee
- BBC news
image source, Cabinet Office
Boris Johnson fined for attending birthday gathering in cabinet in 2020
Boris Johnson plans to resign from Congress immediately following Partygate report.
The report by the MP-led Privileges Committee explored whether he misled Congress about the lockdown-breaking party in Downing Street.
Mr Johnson accused the House investigation of “trying to get me out”.
“They have not yet produced a shred of evidence that I have deliberately or recklessly misled the House,” he said in a statement.
Early Friday morning, he received a copy of the unpublished report, which he claimed was “full of inaccuracies and biases.”
He said social distancing was not “perfect” at the Downing Street rally during the coronavirus lockdown.
However, they claimed they were “essential” work events and were allowed.
He insisted he always followed the guidelines he understood.
“I wasn’t lying. In my heart, I believe the commission knows that,” the former prime minister said in a lengthy statement after resigning on Friday evening.
“When I spoke to the House of Commons, they, like other members of the Cabinet, knew very well what they believed to be true in their hearts and what they said after being briefed,” he said.
Mr Johnson said he corrected the record as soon as possible, saying committee members “know it”.
He said that “the current prime minister, Mr. Rishi Sunak, who lived in the same building at the time,” also believed they were “legally cooperating.”
He denounced the commission as a “kangaroo court” and argued that the commission’s “intended purpose from the beginning was to convict me, regardless of the facts.”
image source, Getty Images
Johnson says his dismissal is a ‘necessary first step’ in an attempt to overturn the 2016 Brexit result
“I am deeply saddened to be leaving Congress, at least for now, but above all, I am embarrassed by the prospect of being undemocratically ousted by the committee that Mr Johnson chairs and manages,” Johnson said in a statement. I am appalled,” he said. [Labour MP] Harriet Herrmann has such terrible prejudices. ”
His resignation will lead to by-elections in his constituencies of Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
Johnson served as prime minister from July 2019 to September 2022 and has been an MP since 2001.
The BBC’s political editor Chris Mason said that not only had Mr Johnson abandoned his parliamentary seat, but he “does so in explosive fashion, directly attacking Prime Minister Rishi Suakh”.
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said after news of her resignation: “That’s good.”
Mr Johnson said his “dismissal” was a “necessary step” for some opponents to “avenge Brexit and ultimately overturn the 2016 referendum result”. .
