The noose is tightening around Boris Johnson: on Thursday April 21, British MPs approved – without even a vote being necessary – the opening of a parliamentary inquiry into whether the Prime Minister lied by assuring that the rules sanitary facilities had not been violated in Downing Street during the Covid-19 pandemic. His entourage did try to neutralize Labour’s proposal to launch the investigation, but he had to quickly give it up in the face of the discontent of the conservative camp. Mr. Johnson’s own party is outraged by the contradictions and the refusal of the latter to assume its responsibilities within the framework of the “partygate” scandal.
The investigation will be carried out by the Westminster Privileges Commission, in charge of the respect of parliamentary rules by elected officials. It won’t start until the Greater London (Scotland Yard) police investigation is complete and senior civil servant Sue Gray’s report is published in full – likely not for several weeks. “I have absolutely nothing to hide” reacted Boris Johnson Thursday, on the sidelines of a two-day official visit to India. However, this is a severe blow for the leader, who thought he had weathered the brunt of the storm.
He was counting on his rather successful handling of the war in Ukraine – the United Kingdom was the first European country to arm kyiv –, his repeated apologies and the absence of an obvious candidate for replace him at the head of the tories. Until then considered his most threatening competitor, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, lost his luster in early April following embarrassing revelations about his tax situation and that of his wife. But the fine (£50, €60) imposed on him by Scotland Yard in mid-April has weakened Mr Johnson’s position. He was sanctioned for having violated the rules of confinement during his birthday party, in June 2020 in Downing Street. Many in Westminster fear further fines, as he has attended at least three other parties.
A question of principle
In the amendment adopted on Thursday, the Labor Party suspects him of having ” deceived “ and “despised” Parliament on the subject of “partygate”, having affirmed, during a session of questions to the Prime Minister on 1er December 2021, that “all the rules [avaient] were followed at 10 Downing Street”or, on December 8, that he had “assured on several occasions that there is no [avait] had neither parties nor violation of sanitary rules ”.
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