To increase the likelihood that Boris Johnson will get a fair hearing in the Partygate investigation, the PM’s supporters said last night.
When MPs return from their summer break the next week, they are requesting that a senior ex-Minister be chosen as a new member of the Commons Privileges Committee.
After the committee ruled that it would not have to establish that Mr. Johnson had willfully deceived MPs about lockdown parties at No. 10, Mr. Johnson’s friends denounced the investigation as a “kangaroo court” and a “show trial.”
As a result of the inquiry’s decision to waive the need that it establish Mr. Johnson intentionally deceived MPs about lockdown parties at No. 10, Mr. Johnson’s friends have denounced the investigation as a “kangaroo court” and a “show trial.”
Friends of Mr. Johnson have expressed worries about the committee’s seven members’ “prejudices and, consequently, bias.” The committee has a Tory majority, but Labour MP Harriet Harman will serve as its head throughout the investigation.
Tory Laura Farris, who announced in the summer that she was stepping down as a committee member, will be replaced on the probe, and MPs will be asked to agree that person next week.
Ms. Farris must be replaced by a senior Conservative who would bring “some rationality” and expertise to the proceedings, according to Mr. Johnson’s aides, who told The Mail on Sunday.