Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will testify in two weeks before the Parliamentary Inquiry into the celebrations in Downing Street, in violation of anti-covid rules, which cast a dark cloud over his political future.
Pushed to resign this summer by a succession of scandals, first and foremost the "partygate", Boris Johnson is under investigation which, if it concludes that the former head of government misled Parliament, risks cost him his parliamentary seat.
The exact date of his hearing is to be announced soon, but the former Conservative leader, already fined by the police, agreed to testify in public the week of March 20, the commission announced on Friday.
This must determine whether Boris Johnson lied in the House of Commons, in particular when he affirmed before the deputies in December 2021 that “
the rules have been respected all the time
”.
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Violations of “obvious” anti-covid rules
In a report detailing on Friday the explanations that the investigation will endeavor to obtain from the ex-prime minister, the commission underlines that the elements it has collected "strongly suggest" that the violations of the anti-covid rules had
to
be “
obvious
” for Boris Johnson.
He responded in a statement that there is "
no evidence in the report
" that he "
knowingly
" misled Parliament.
He further deemed it “
surreal
” to discover that the commission “
proposes to rely on evidence gathered and orchestrated
” by senior civil servant Sue Gray, “
who has just been appointed Chief of Staff to Labor Party leader
” Keir Starmer .
A senior civil servant renowned for her impartiality, Sue Gray had suddenly gained notoriety for her report on "
partygate
", which detailed, emails and photos in support, a series of very alcoholic pots with altercations, music, and departure by backdoors in the early morning.
The announcement of his departure from the administration to join the Labor Party, which the polls promise power in the next general election, has seen flowering in the conservative press accusations of conspiracy to bring down Boris Johnson.
The commission clarified that the report it released on Friday was "
not based on Sue Gray's report
".
After Liz Truss' brief visit to Downing Street, Boris Johnson finally gave up seeking power again, leaving the way open to Rishi Sunak, whose agreement with the EU on Ireland he recently publicly criticized. North.
