London (EFE) “in good faith”.
The Committee on Privileges of the House of Commons, which is investigating whether Johnson lied to the Lower House, made public this Tuesday the written testimony that the legal team of the former head of Government delivered yesterday, before this Wednesday he appears before that commission.
In that testimony, he states that “I did not intentionally or recklessly mislead the House on December 1, 2021, December 8, 2021, or any other date. I would never have dreamed of doing it.”
“I accept that the House of Commons was misled by my statements that the rules had been fully followed at 10 (Downing Street). But when the statements were made, they were made in good faith and based on what I honestly knew and believed at the time,” he adds.
In publishing his testimony today, the committee made it clear that it “does not contain any new documentary evidence.”
Possible suspension of Johnson as MP
Johnson left power on September 6 as a result of that scandal and after the official Sue Gray released her independent report on “partygate”, in which she criticized parties and the excessive culture of alcohol in the official residence.
“Of course it is true that my statements to Parliament that the (anticovid) rules had been followed at all times did not turn out to be correct, and I take this opportunity to apologize to the House for that,” he said.
Johnson’s appearance tomorrow -scheduled for 2:00 p.m. GMT- has created expectation since his political future may depend on the conclusions reached by the deputies of the committee.
In case they establish that Johnson lied knowingly, the deputies of the committee can recommend that he be suspended from the Lower House, of which he is a part as a parliamentarian for the constituency of Uxbridge (northwest London).
In an interim report, the committee recently said current evidence suggests the anti-Covid breaches at Downing Street were “obvious” to Johnson.
The inquiry is chaired by Labor MP Harriet Harman, although the panel of seven committee members has a Conservative majority.