Tories in party gate investigation were 'heroic', says Harriet Harman

Harriet Harman: «These four conservative committee members have done a heroic service to the House of Commons.» Credit: House of Commons/UK Parliament

The Conservative MPs who defied pressure from Boris Johnson's supporters to convict him of lying to Parliament are «heroes», said the Labor MP who led the party investigation.

Harriet Harman, who led the privileges committee's investigation into whether the former prime minister misled MPs about lockdown parties and admitted she might not have shown the same courage had the Labor leader been in same position.

Four of the seven members of the committee that found that Mr. Johnson deliberately misled Parliament, which could have ended his political career, were Conservative MPs.

< p>He would have faced a 90-day suspension from the House of Commons — long enough to trigger a recall petition and a possible by-election — had he not resigned as MP after seeing their damning findings.

Boris Johnson and his supporters have repeatedly tried to question the integrity of Ms. Harman and her committee

Ms Harman, speaking to broadcaster Ian Dale at the Edinburgh Fringe, praised her fellow Conservatives for withstanding «real pressure and harassment» from other Tories who wanted Mr Johnson to be acquitted and tried » intervene» in her investigation.

«These four Conservative committee members did a heroic service to the House of Commons,» she said.

«Emails rained down on them, people said:» You are a disgrace get off the committee, you shouldn't be doing this, it's a witch hunt.»

«They were under so much pressure from their own side, but they said, 'This is a job we have agreed to do for the House of Commons, for our democracy, we are going to consider the evidence without fear or preference.'

She added: “I can honestly say that if it had been the other way around, if it had been a former Labor Prime Minister, I would not necessarily have been able to withstand all this pressure. They did a really great job, I was in awe of them. It was, in fact, sheer heroism.

The Kangaroo Trial Accusations

Mr Johnson and his supporters have repeatedly tried to question the integrity of Ms Harman and her committee. He called their findings «abnormal» and called the committee a «kangaroo trial.»

Ms Harman faced criticism for her impartiality after posts surfaced on social media accusing Mr Johnson of lies.

She admitted to Mr. Dale that her tweets «didn't look great» and caused «a lot of buzz». She said she suggested «quietly leaving».

The four Conservative MPs who sat on the committee were Sir Bernard Jenkin, Sir Charles Walker, Andy Carter and Alberto Costa.