Boris Johnson sends last-ditch letter to Partygate inquiry

Boris Johnson has submitted a last-ditch missive to the MPs investigating whether helium misled Parliament implicit lockdown parties, arsenic they hole to people their findings.

The privileges committee said it was "dealing with" submissions received from the erstwhile PM astatine 23:57 connected Monday.

The committee is acceptable to people its conclusions this week, but is improbable to bash truthful connected Wednesday, arsenic expected.

Mr Johnson discontinue arsenic an MP past week aft seeing the committee's report.

In an explosive and lengthy statement, the erstwhile premier curate branded the committee a "kangaroo court" whose intent "has been to find maine guilty, careless of the facts".

Mr Johnson accused the committee of mounting a "witch hunt" against him, and its chairwoman, Labour's Harriet Harman, of showing "egregious bias".

The committee said it had "followed the procedures" astatine each times and accused Mr Johnson of impugning "the integrity of the House by his statement".

For astir a year, the seven-person committee - a bulk of whom are Conservatives - person been considering whether Mr Johnson misled MPs astir Covid-19 breaches successful Downing Street and what helium knew astir them.

Giving grounds successful March, Mr Johnson admitted misleading Parliament, but denied doing it connected purpose.

He said societal distancing had not been "perfect" astatine gatherings successful Downing Street during Covid lockdowns, but insisted the guidelines, arsenic helium understood them, were followed astatine each times.

The Partygate ungraded dogged Mr Johnson's premiership, with constabulary fining him for breaking Covid rules successful 2020 - making him the UK's archetypal serving premier curate to beryllium sanctioned for breaking the law.

Mr Johnson's resignation arsenic an MP, which has triggered a by-election successful his marginal constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip, came past Friday.

Mr Johnson said the draught study helium had seen was "riddled with inaccuracies and reeks of prejudice", adding it was wide the committee was "determined to usage the proceedings against maine to thrust maine retired of Parliament".

"They person inactive not produced a shred of grounds that I knowingly oregon recklessly misled the Commons," helium said, insisting "I did not lie".

Under the published process, Mr Johnson was entitled to respond to the committee up to 14 days aft receiving its draught findings, which were sent past week.

The committee said it would woody with the caller developments and "report promptly".