Much of what an MP does is very much out and about in the public and usually involved in things that are very much about people’s immediate concerns, like the cost of living crisis or the shortage of housing.
But sometimes as an MP you get called upon to do something which takes place behind the scenes but is nonetheless very important for our democracy. And that’s why a year ago I agreed to take up the chair of Parliament’s Committee of Privileges to conduct the inquiry into whether Boris Johnson misled the House of Commons when he said that all Covid-19 rules were complied with in No.10.
Misleading the House is not a technicality but a matter of great importance.
Our democracy is based on people electing us to scrutinise the Government, and, on behalf of the people we represent, we have to hold the Government to account. We cannot do that if Ministers are not truthful. Ministers must be truthful; if they are not, we cannot do our job. It is as simple and as fundamental as that.
Over the course of the last twelve months the Committee of Privileges conducted an inquiry, looking at thousands of pages of Government emails, diary entries and photographs.
The members of the Privileges Committee are four Conservatives, Sir Bernard Jenkin MP, Alberto Costa MP, Andy Carter MP and Sir Charles Walker MP, one Scottish National Party, Allan Dorans MP, and myself and Yvonne Fovargue MP from the Labour Party.
On 15th June we published our report which found that Johnson:
- Deliberately misled the House of Commons
- Deliberately misled the committee
- Breached the committee’s confidence
- Impugned the committee and thereby undermined the democratic process of the House of Commons
- Was complicit in the campaign of abuse and attempted intimidation of the committee
We sent the draft report to Johnson for his comments and he immediately resigned from Parliament rather than face the penalty we proposed, which was that he be suspended from the House of Commons for 90 days which would have triggered a by-election in his constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
The Committee also recommended that he not be allowed the pass which allows former members to come into the House of Commons.
During the course of the inquiry Johnson’s supporters mounted a campaign of vilification and harassment against members of the Committee and were particularly threatening to the Conservative members.
So we are producing a further report condemning what was a concerted attempt to undermine and halt the work of the Committee.
On 19th June the House of Commons backed our report into Johnson with 354 MPs voting for and only 7 against.
It’s taken a year of work but I think it’s more than justified to have spent the time and effort it required to carry out the inquiry.
It is about protecting our democracy. Because even if you are the Prime Minister—especially if you are the Prime Minister—you must tell the truth to Parliament.