Boris Johnson reacted strongly to the Privilege Committee's report. Photo: Yves Herman/Reuters
Boris Johnson's allies threatened to overthrow the conservative MPs who vote for the party report after the privileges committee recommended that he be banned from receiving a parliamentary pass in the future.
Committee report published on Thursday, revealed that the former prime minister would have faced a 90-day suspension had he still been an MP — a far harsher punishment than expected — after he was found to have repeatedly misled the House of Commons.
On Monday, MPs will vote to accept the report's findings and proposed sanctions, and even Mr. Johnson's allies expect it to pass.
On Thursday, only seven of 352 Conservative MPs publicly said they would vote against the report. Opposition MPs are preparing to support her en masse.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is visiting a foreign leader on Monday — likely to give him an excuse to be too busy to vote — and many other cabinet ministers are expected to miss him.
However, his absence would raise questions about Mr. Sunak's commitment to public service integrity, given the importance attached to the report.
The committee's report was scathing, accusing Johnson of «closing his mind from the truth». ', misleading MPs at anti-lockdown parties on Downing Street. He recommended that «he should not be entitled to a former MP's pass.»
Former MPs are entitled to a parliamentary pass, which means they can continue to freely enter and exit the Palace of Westminster. Mr. Johnson, who announced his resignation on Friday, has yet to receive his badge.
Nadine Dorries, former Minister of Culture and a longtime supporter of the ex-prime minister, warned that «cancellation of elections could follow» for Conservative MPs who vote in line with the report. This message was supported by other supporters of Johnson.
Andy Carter, one of four Conservative MPs on the Privilege Committee, is looking for a new seat after deciding not to run for South Warrington again, meaning he faces a reelection battle.
Public Polls Opinions Conservative members have suggested that Johnson retains a significant share of Tory rank and file support despite being removed from office last year.
Mr. Johnson gave a heated response to the privileges committee's report just after the long-awaited findings of the 14-month-long investigation were released online at 9 am on Thursday.
He wrote: «This is a terrible day for MPs and for democracy. This decision means that no member of Parliament is immune from vendetta or expulsion on trumped-up charges by a tiny minority who want him or her to disappear from the House of Commons.
“I have not the slightest contempt for Parliament or to the important work that the privileges committee should do.
“But for the Privilege Committee to use its prerogatives in such an anti-democratic way, to commit what should be the final stab in a protracted political assassination, is below contempt.”
What about this party? Johnson's team points the finger
Mr Johnson also called the committee a «kangaroo court» but No. 10 defended him, with a spokesman for the prime minister saying his job was done «carefully».
< p>If the report is passed on Monday, Mr Johnson will become the first former prime minister charged with contempt of the House of Commons for misleading MPs.
This is a serious blow to his hopes of a political comeback, but he will not withdraws from politics and The Telegraph understands that he is considering speaking in the UK in the coming weeks to promote his political agenda.
Reform UK sources on Thursday floated the idea of tempting Mr Johnson to join former Ukip leader Nigel Farage and reform leader Richard Tice.
Earlier this week, Mr Farage signaled he was ready to join forces with Mr Johnson, saying: “If he wants to protect his Brexit legacy, I want to protect my Brexit legacy. heritage too.
“Would there be a possibility of a new association of the centre-right? It would be Boris Johnson, and other MPs would join in.”
Following the release of the report, Ms Dorries tweeted: “Any Conservative MP who votes in favor of this report is fundamentally not a Conservative and will be held accountable by members and the public. Deselection may follow. This is serious.
She is currently postponing her official resignation from Parliament as she tries to figure out why she left out a peerage from Johnson's list of honors last week. The delay raises the possibility that Mr. Sunak will have to run in several potentially difficult by-elections on different dates throughout the summer.
David Campbell Bannerman, chairman of the Conservative Democratic Organization, said: «Any Conservative MP who in my opinion, supporting this is anti-democratic. And they will face a vote of no confidence in the selection because the participants will be so outraged that they will hold them accountable for it. />Boris Johnson with Paul Bristow, who said he would vote against the report. Photo: Andrew Parsons/i-Images. Brendan Clark-Smith, Paul Bristow, James Duddridge, Mark Jenkinson and Jacob Rees-Mogg.
The Privileges Committee said Mr Johnson should have known Covid rules were broken at six different gatherings, adding that any «reasonable», a person would come to this conclusion.
It also says he misled MPs in five different ways on at least four occasions and was «disingenuous» on several points.
MPs questioned the basis of Mr Johnson's original general assertion in the following at No. 10, noting that only two media advisers had given assurances regarding one event.
The Committee also highlighted his vehement criticism of the investigation, saying that it constituted another «very serious contempt» and «attack on our democratic institutions.”
The Telegraph may report that the committee originally planned to propose a 40-day suspension for Johnson. This was extended to 90 days after he resigned and launched his attack.
One part of the report read: “Mr Johnson is adamant that he believed in all the events he visited and of which he was directly aware were necessary.
“This conviction, which he continues to assert, has no reasonable basis either in rules or in facts. A reasonable person, looking at events and rules, would not believe what Mr. Johnson professed.
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