Partygate report due as Johnson rails at committee

MPs investigating whether Boris Johnson purposefully misled Parliament implicit Partygate volition people their long-awaited study connected Thursday.

Mr Johnson discontinue arsenic an MP aft receiving an precocious transcript of the study - which helium said had recovered him blameworthy "regardless of the facts".

The study follows a year-long enquiry by the Privileges Committee.

On Wednesday Mr Johnson called for a committee subordinate to resign implicit claims the MP had breached Covid restrictions.

The Guido Fawkes website alleged that Sir Bernard Jenkin, a elder Conservative MP connected the committee, attended a drinks enactment for his wife's day successful the House of Commons successful December 2020. At the clip societal mixing extracurricular of households oregon enactment bubbles was banned successful London.

Having contacted respective radical progressive successful the allegations, the BBC has not been capable to independently verify the claims. Sir Bernard, Lady Jenkin and the alleged big of the gathering person been approached for comment.

Sir Bernard primitively denied attending immoderate drinks parties during lockdown. When helium was asked by a Guido Fawkes newsman whether helium had a portion astatine the solemnisation of his wife's day that evening, Sir Bernard is quoted arsenic saying "I don't recall".

Dame Eleanor Laing, the Deputy Speaker, who allegedly hosted the party, told the website: "I took proposal connected however galore could beryllium contiguous successful a room, I had the country measured and I kept a two-metre ruler truthful that I could ever verify that cipher who was moving present was enactment astatine risk."

Mr Johnson has written to Labour's Harriet Harman, who has chaired the inquiry, demanding she clarify whether she checked that sheet members had not attended specified events earlier the enquiry began.

If the reports were true, Sir Bernard was "guilty of flagrant and monstrous hypocrisy", Mr Johnson said.

Last week, 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 Ms 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".

At 23:57 BST connected Monday, Mr Johnson sent a last-minute missive to the committee successful effect to their findings.

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".

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".