Rishi Sunak – latest: Tory civil war deepens as Goldsmith hits back over claim he refused to apologise
Tory peer hits out at Sunak government’s ‘apathy’ – day after Downing Street faced down calls to fire him
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The Tory civil war has grown more fractious as Zac Goldsmith hit out at “misleading” No 10 briefing over his scathing resignation, insisting that Rishi Sunak was “wrong” to claim he had refused to apologise over his Partygate comments.
The outgoing environment minister claimed he was “happy to apologise” for remarks labelled “disturbing” by the privileges committee in their report alleging “interference” from 10 Tories during their investigation which found that Boris Johnson repeatedly lied to parliament.
As he sought to get back on the front foot at a No 10 briefing outlining his plans for NHS reforms, Mr Sunak insisted the Tory peer had resigned after taking a “different course” when asked to apologise for his “incompatible” remarks – despite No 10 insisting just hours earlier that he had the PM’s confidence.
But Lord Goldsmith opened up a new front of criticism for Mr Sunak as he countered the PM’s claims of his refusal to apologise on Friday, insisting the Sunak government’s “lethargy” on climate meant his resignation had been a “long time coming”.
‘Unprecedented’ attacks ‘raised significant security concerns’, say MPs
The “unprecedented” attack on MPs investigating Boris Johnson “raised significant security concerns” and had the “clear intention” of frustrating the intention of the House of Commons, the privileges committee report says.
The MPs write: “Pressure was applied particularly to Conservative members of the Committee.
“This had the clear intention to drive those members off the Committee and so to frustrate the intention of the House that the inquiry should be carried out, or to prevent the inquiry coming to a conclusion which the critics did not want.
“There were also sustained attempts to undermine and challenge the impartiality of the Chair, who had been appointed to the Committee by unanimous decision of the House.
“This unprecedented and co-ordinated pressure did not affect the conduct or outcome of our inquiry. However, it had significant personal impact on individual Members and raised significant security concerns.”
Breaking: Boris Johnson allies made ‘disturbing’ attack on democracy, says Partygate report
A series of “disturbing” attacks launched by Boris Johnson’s against MPs investigating his Partygate claims undermined British democracy, the privileges committee has found.
A scathing report named Jacob Rees-Mogg, Nadine Dorries, Zac Goldsmith and Priti Patel among the Johnson loyalists who made “unprecedented” and “unacceptable” attempts to damage the work of the cross-party group.
The MPs catalogued the “most disturbing examples” of the “co-ordinated campaign to interfere with the work of the committee” in the new 14-page report.
Our political correspondent Adam Forrest has more details in this breaking report, which you can refresh for updates:
Boris Johnson allies made ‘disturbing’ attack on democracy, says report
Boris backers launched ‘unprecedented’ and ‘unacceptable’ attempts to damage inquiry
Some of most ‘vociferous attacks’ were made on MPs’ own TV shows, says committee
The privileges committee notes that, while the Speaker prevented abuse within the Commons, “what needs to be addressed is the campaign waged outside parliament ... to undermine the committee”.
These attacks “involved used newspapers and radio and there was extensive use of social media”, the MPs said, adding that it is “particularly concerned about attacks mounted by experienced colleagues”.
These included a serving minister [Zac Goldsmith], a former leader of the House [Jacob Rees-Mogg] and a former secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport [Nadine Dorries], and at least three members of the House of Lords ... “who took it upon themselves to undermine procedures” of the Commons, the committee said.
“We have not catalogued every tweet or TV appearance, but have set out in an annex to this report some of the most disturbing examples of the co-ordinated campaign to interfere with the work of the Committee,” they continued.
The report highlights remarks by “the individuals referred to above and of others who followed their example”, they wrote, adding: “This matter is made more difficult because two of the members mounting the most vociferous attacks on the Committee did so from the platform of their own hosted TV shows.
“Attacks by experienced Members are all the more concerning as they would have known that during the course of an investigation it was not possible for the Privileges Committee to respond to the attacks.”
MPs to vote on whether to sanction Johnson allies named in report
Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell reports:
MPs will vote on whether to sanction allies of Boris Johnson accused of mounting an “unprecedented and coordinated” campaign to undermine the Privileges Committee.
In a damning report, the committee said eight MPs had made “disturbing” comments in an attempt to “undermine the procedures of the House of Commons”.
They listed “attacks” on the committee from staunch supporters of the former prime minister including Nadine Dorries, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Andrea Jenkyns.
And the Privileges Committee recommended MPs vote to reprimand MPs for attempting to “lobby or intimidate” members of the Privileges Committee.
“Such behaviour undermines the proceedings of the House and is itself capable of being a contempt,” it said.
And, raising the prospect of MPs being formally sanctioned for attacking the committee, it added: “It will be for the House to consider what further action, if any, to take in respect of Members of the House referred to in this special report.”
Which ‘disturbing' comments did the report highlight?
Here are some of the tweets and comments referred to within the report as “some of the most disturbing examples of the co-ordinated campaign to interfere with the work of the Committee” (see post below):
Tory MP ‘stands by’ statement about privileges committee
Tory MP Michael Fabricant, accused by the Privileges Committee of a potential contempt of Parliament, said he “stands by” his statement about its work.
The Boris Johnson supporter, handed a knighthood in the former PM’s resignation honours, claimed some of the committee’s members had treated Mr Johnson “with contempt”.
Mr Fabricant shared an annex from the report detailing some of the most “disturbing” attacks on the committee.
He added: “I stand by my statement. Some of the members of the Privileges Committee treated their witness, Boris Johnson, with contempt by gestures and other actions. Had it been in a law court, the judge would have called them to order. Respect for the Committee needs to be earned.”
Tory MP ‘shocked and disappointed’ to be named in report
Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith said he was “shocked and disappointed” to be named in the Privileges Committee’s report.
The Boris Johnson supporter said he had “fully respected the processes” and claimed his inclusion raised “serious questions about free speech”.
Mr Clarke-Smith was reprimanded for referring to the committee’s inquiry into the former PM as a “witch-hunt which would put a banana republic to shame”.
He said on Twitter: “Members of Parliament fulfil an important role in society and it is absolutely vital that they are able to scrutinise and comment on any matters relating to their work.
“I am shocked and disappointed to be named in this new report. This raises serious questions about free speech in a democratic society and my colleagues and I will continue to defend these principles going forward.”
New Partygate report a headache for Sunak
Our political correspondent Adam Forrest reports:
The new report causes further problems for Rishi Sunak, as the committee made clear that his ministers cannot sit on their hands – urging the government to table a motion backing the committee’s latest conclusions.
Saying its work was “crucial to our democracy”, the panel recommended that MPs agree a resolution approving the report, one which would make clear that parliamentarians “should not impugn the integrity” of the committee.
Call for Sunak to investigate possibility of ‘gongs for cronies scandal'
The Liberal Democrats called for Rishi Sunak to investigate whether Boris Johnson agreed to hand honours to MPs who defended him over Partygate.
The party said several of the MPs who “shamelessly attacked” the Privileges Committee were rewarded with gongs just weeks after.
“This looks like a gongs for cronies scandal,” deputy leader Daisy Cooper said.
She added: “Rishi Sunak has shown himself to be totally spineless so far on this issue. He refused to block Boris Johnson’s honours list, failed to vote for the Partygate report and his promise of integrity has been left in tatters.
“The least he can do now is order an investigation into whether any collusion took place between Johnson and these MPs, and commit to revoking their honours if it did.”
Conservative Post email campaign saw committee bombarded with hundreds of emails
The Privileges Committee report also points to the “selective pressure” of a Conservative Post email campaign, which described the inquiry into Boris Johnson as “nothing but a politically motivated attack” and as “deeply flawed, biased, and unfair”.
The report notes: “Two Members of the House of Lords, whose peerages were conferred on the recommendation of Mr Johnson, were among over 600 people who emailed Committee members using the template email devised by Conservative Post.
Referencing an article published by Conservative Post on March 14, the committee notes: “Over 600 emails to Conservative members of the Committee followed over the next few days. They included emails appearing to come from Lord Cruddas and Lord Greenhalgh.”
Earlier this morning, Lord Cruddas tweeted that if “don’t want people noticing they are a kangaroo court then they should hop less”:
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