BoJo’s Farewell

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A British parliamentary inquiry found that former Prime Minister Boris Johnson deliberately misled Parliament over gatherings held in his Downing Street office and residence during the country’s strict Covid-19 lockdowns, USA Today reported Thursday.

In a 30,000-word report, the lower house’s Privileges Committee – which probes alleged parliamentary wrongdoing – said that Johnson committed “a serious contempt of the House,” and did so on an issue of the “greatest importance to the House and to the public, and did so repeatedly.”

The document also noted that the former leader was complicit in a “campaign of abuse and attempted intimidation of the committee,” adding that his actions were an “attack on our democratic institutions.”

The long-awaited report is part of the infamous “Partygate” scandal, which involved government officials holding alcohol-fueled parties in the prime minister’s office and at other official buildings in 2020 and 2021 when such gatherings were prohibited by pandemic restrictions, according to the Associated Press.

The scandal resulted in Johnson’s resignation as prime minister last year, although he remained a lawmaker in Parliament during the inquiry.

But less than a week before the report’s publishing, Johnson quit his position as a legislator, calling the committee a “kangaroo court” that conducted a “witch hunt” to drive him out of Parliament.

On Thursday, he described the report’s findings as the “final knife-thrust in a protracted political assassination − that is beyond contempt.”

Observers explained that the inquiry and accusations will be difficult to shake off for the Conservative politician, even though they have no legal consequences. Johnson will also not be barred from standing for re-election as a lawmaker.

Even so, Johnson faces another probe over how he and his officials responded to the coronavirus pandemic.