MPs must not lie in the House of Commons – so what happens if they do?

Boris Johnson has been accused for three weeks running of making incorrect, misleading and – to stretch parliamentary language to its limits – false statements at PMQs, writes Andrew Woodcock

In Downing Street there is an absolute taboo about admitting the prime minister has got it wrong (Getty)

MPs don’t lie in the House of Commons. That is one of the most fundamental rules of Westminster, and anyone accusing another honourable member of telling porkies will be sternly told by the speaker to retract the accusation.

At worst, the speaker might tell a fibbing MP that he or she has “inadvertently misled” the House and invite them to correct the record, preserving the neutrality of the chair by never suggesting that the miscreant deliberately told untruths.

So what to do about an MP like Boris Johnson, who has been accused for three weeks in succession of making incorrect, misleading and – to stretch parliamentary language to its limits – false statements at Prime Minister’s Questions?