Boris Johnson news - live: MPs to investigate PM over potential partygate Commons lies
PM accused of ‘running away’ from Commons drama with twice-delayed India trip
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Boris Johnson is set to be investigated for potentially lying to MPs over parties held at Number 10, after a landmark decision by the House of Commons.
This comes after the prime minister rejected a call by former Brexit minister Steve Baker for him to resign over Partygate, insisting that he has “absolutely nothing, frankly, to hide”.
Tory MP claimed the prime minister “now should be long gone” after – in a major U-turn, amid fears of a rebellion – the government backed down from a bid to force its MPs to delay a vote on whether to hold a Commons inquiry into whether he misled parliament, which is now expected to go ahead.
Ahead of Thursday’s debate, Labour threatened to plaster the names of MPs who blocked the probe across election leaflets, and accused Mr Johnson of using his two-day trip to India as a distraction.
Speaking from a JCB factory in Gujarat, Mr Johnson claimed he was “very keen for every possible form of scrutiny” and said MPs “must do whatever they want.”
In the Commons, the SNP’s Ian Blackford branded Mr Johnson a “liar” – and was not ordered to retract his remark by the Speaker.
PM lets frustrations show as Partygate row looms large over India trip
With the row over parties threatening to overshadow a crucial trade visit to India, Boris Johnson let his frustration show in an interview with Sky News, telling political editor Beth Rigby: “Ask me questions relating to the trip.”
When Ms Rigby pointed out that her counterparts at BBC News had spent seven minutes questioning the PM on Partygate, Mr Johnson retorted: “This isn’t a kind of competition to see who can do more. Why don’t you get onto the subject of the trip.”
Our political editor Andrew Woodcock has more in his breaking report:
‘I’ve got nothing to hide’, says PM amid partygate scandal
‘Ask me questions relating to the trip’: PM lets frustration show in interviews during visit to India
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Sunak refuses to say if he has benefited from wife’s non-dom status
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has refused to say whether he and his family have benefited from his wife’s non-domicile tax status, my colleague Adam Forrest reports.
In his first public grilling since The Independent revealed Akshata Murty’s non-dom status, Mr Sunak insisted that she had “followed all the rules”.
Asked by the BBC if his household finances benefited – or could benefit – from Ms Murty’s non-dom status, he replied: “She has always followed all the rules, paid all the tax in the UK that is due, and paid tax internationally on her international investments.”
Mr Sunak added: “But she recognised that this goes beyond just following those rules so she had decided to pay both UK and foreign taxes on her foreign investments, and I follow support her decision to do so.”
Sunak refuses to say if he has benefited from wife’s non-dom status
Chancellor insists ‘all rules were followed’ in first public grilling over tax controversy
Tory MP says he cannot forgive PM for ‘misleading the House'
Conservative MP Anthony Mangnall has said he cannot forgive Boris Johnson for “misleading the House”.
“Every day that I see issues and rules broken in this place only reaffirms my belief that we have to stand up in this place and make it clear that dishonesty, that inaction and misleading of the House cannot be tolerated from anyone,” the MP for Totnes told the Commons.
“Now, when I put that letter in, I asked for changes. I asked for changes in the operation of how No 10 was organised. I asked for changes in how the whipping system might work. And I’m pleased to say some of those changes have come in, but unfortunately not enough.”
He added: “I do forgive the prime minister for making those mistakes, but I do not forgive him for misleading the House, as I see it.”
On the motion put forward by Labour, Mr Mangnall said “I welcome it” and “I support it”, but claimed to be “disappointed that the motion we are putting forward now is kicking the can down the road”.
Jess Phillips tells MPs she could have had a baby in time Boris Johnson took to apologise
Jess Phillips has told the Commons she could have had a baby in the time it has taken for Boris Johnson’s apology to come and “it would have been less painful”.
The Labour MP said: “I could have had a baby in the time it has taken the apology to come. It would have been less painful. The reality is that along that nine months what we have seen is not somebody taking the actions to desperately try and preserve the thing that we all came here to do.
“It has been to desperately try and preserve his own position. And that that to me is unforgivable.”
She added: “Everything that he has sought to do has been about him. He cannot answer a simple question. You don't have to wait for a police investigation. I asked him a question ... four months ago now: ‘Did you go to this party in your flat on this date?’ and he said ‘I can't answer because there’s a police investigation’.
“Well, I’ll tell you what, there's a police investigation into that and I can say I didn’t go to a party at his house that day. There you go, I wasn’t at that party. It hasn’t affected the police investigation. The fact that what he has done shows a lack of contrition because it wasn’t upfront. It has never been upfront.”
Privileges committee chair predicts Boris Johnson will be gone by end of May
The chair of the privileges committee – the panel expected to hold an inquiry into whether Boris Johnson misled parliament over Partygate – has claimed that he expects Boris Johnson to be gone by the end of May.
Chris Bryant told BBC Newsnight: “The truth is that the prime minister couldn’t gather enough Conservative MPs to maintain his cloak of invisibility. So I think the clock is now ticking on the end of his premiership. It feels very end of regime.”
He added: “I think by the time the committee gets round to it, Boris Johnson will have long departed Downing Street ... I can’t see he’ll be there by the end of May.”
SNP frontbencher claims Tories will be ‘hammered’ in May elections
The Conservatives will be “hammered” in the local elections due to Partygate, an SNP frontbencher has claimed.
SNP Commons leader Pete Wishart said: “I am not going to be reticent about elections. The police have just put out a statement to say there will be no more issuing of fines and no more comment until after the council elections.
“This is now definitely in the mix, the elections are a feature of all this because of that police statement. I have to say to my Conservative colleagues over there, you are going to get hammered, absolutely hammered. The public are outraged.
“I have got a local authority that is Conservative in Perthshire and we have got one message on our leaflet which says: ‘As you obeyed the rules, the Tories partied. Kick them out.’
“That will be, I suspect, going on most leaflets in subsequent elections until he is replaced and he is removed.”
Liberal Democrat MP Helen Morgan, who holds the North Shropshire seat formerly held by Owen Paterson, said that Boris Johnson has “irrevocably damaged” the trust of the public and Commons.
Speaking to the Commons, she said: “It is possible that our leader will be required to make decisions of the most serious nature in the coming months. Decisions none of us was wish to be forced to make.
“Should this happen, this House and the British public will need to have the utmost confidence that the Prime Minister is telling us the truth.
“The Prime Minister has irrevocably damaged that confidence. No one believes the Prime Minister has told the truth because he has become entangled in a web of lies.”
Later on, Labour MP Matt Western said: “If we are to restore faith and trust in this place we cannot defend the indefensible. The Government tried that with the Owen Paterson affair.”
Conservative MP Sir Peter Bottomley, the Father of the House, said: “I think the big distinction with Owen Paterson is that when outside investigations showed what he had done was wrong, he didn’t accept it.”
MPs to investigate Boris Johnson for potentially lying to Commons over No 10 parties
Boris Johnson will be investigated for potentially lying to MPs over the No 10 parties, after a landmark Commons decision.
The prime minister has been plunged in his deepest crisis yet, after Conservative MPs forced him to abandon attempts to block the inquiry by the privileges committee.
The probe – with the power to demand more than 300 photos of gatherings and 500 documents – was confirmed when the government threw in the towel and allowed a Labour motion to pass.
Read more:
MPs to investigate PM for potentially lying to Commons over Partygate
Boris Johnson will be investigated for potentially lying to MPs over the No 10 parties, after a landmark Commons decision.
PM is ‘mortified’ by his own behaviour, says minister
Cabinet Office minister Michael Ellis told the Commons that the Prime Minister “has always been clear that he is happy to face whatever inquiries Parliament sees fit”.
Mr Ellis went on to add: “And he is happy for the House to decide how it wishes to proceed today, and therefore will not be whipping Conservative members of Parliament. They are free to vote according to how they believe we should move forward on this.
“Now, we tabled an amendment last night because we wanted to be explicit about ensuring that Sue Gray is able to complete and publish her report without any further delay as well as allow the Metropolitan Police to conclude their investigations.
“We now recognise that in practice this is almost certainly likely to be the case. And therefore, we are happy for the Labour motion to go through if that is the will of the House.”
Mr Ellis pointed out that the Prime Minister has “apologised repeatedly” for what happened, but added that “he is mortified by it” and “he wishes he could have done things differently and that the clock could be turned back”.
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