How Partygate vote on inquiry into Boris Johnson will play out in House of Commons

The prime minister avoids an excruciating process thanks to his India trade trip, as Sean O’Grady explains

Boris Johnson apologised to the House of Commons on Tuesday – but there’s a vote on Thursday on whether he should be investigated for misleading parliament (PRU/AFP via Getty)

By luck or design, it is probably just as well that the prime minister is away on geopolitical business in India as the House of Commons comes to vote on whether to refer him to its committee on privileges.

It is (another) unprecedented moment in his career, and a deeply embarrassing one. Indeed, it is intended also to be awkward for some Conservative MPs in marginal seats who will be accused by their opponents of seeking to prolong the Partygate cover-up by denying proper parliament scrutiny, making them complicit in the lying about Covid law-breaking.

It promises to be an excruciating process, though the prime minister will not have to endure it himself as he busies himself in India.