The Privileges Committee of the British parliament has published the 52-page written defense submitted by Johnson to them as part of its investigation into the parties held at Number 10 Prime Minister’s Office during the pandemic.
Former Prime Minister Johnson admitted in his defense that he misled parliament about his involvement in parties that violated lockdown rules, but said he made his statements in “good faith”.
“no evidence to support the claim that I misled parliament”
“It is clear in this investigation that there is no evidence to support the claim that I ‘deliberately’ or ‘recklessly’ misled parliament,” Johnson said. made its assessment.
On the other hand, Johnson argued that there is not a single document showing that any event received a warning or advice that it may have violated the COVID-19 rules.
Johnson will answer questions from lawmakers in committee tomorrow
In his defence, Johnson also criticizes the Privileges Committee that oversaw the investigation, rejecting the allegations in the committee’s interim report that it was “obvious” to him that the guideline on COVID-19 restrictions was violated because he personally attended some meetings.
“An assertion that we are holding events that ‘clearly’ violate the rules and guidelines and allow those events to be immortalized by the official photographer is unreasonable,” Johnson said. used the phrase.
Boris Johnson will attend the session to be held tomorrow, answering the questions of lawmakers due to misleading the parliament about his participation in parties violating the COVID-19 rules in the Prime Minister’s Office.
According to the outcome of the investigation, Johnson is likely to be expelled from parliament or be expelled from parliament.
The protesting parties
In the UK, police launched an investigation early last year after reports of 12 alleged violations of COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 and 2021.
As part of the investigation, Johnson was fined for attending his own birthday party.
The then Prime Minister, Johnson, apologized on May 12 after being fined for violating the COVID-19 rules, but announced that he would not resign from his post.
After the police investigation, senior undersecretary Sue Gray also published her report on the parties. In the report, it was stated that during the period of COVID-19 restrictions, most of the parties held in the Prime Ministry were violated, and the cleaning and security personnel were also faced with “unacceptable” treatment.
In the report, it was pointed out that many events held in the Prime Ministry at that time should not be allowed to be held, and it was noted that the personnel who expressed their concerns were not respected.