Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday, "hand on heart", that he had not lied in parliament, during a decisive hearing for his political future before a parliamentary committee investigating partygate, those parties in Downing Street in the midst of a pandemic.
"I am here to tell you, hand on heart, that I did not lie to parliament," said the 58-year-old former Conservative leader at the start of this television hearing during which he did not let go of anything during more than three hours, faced with the barrage of questions to which he was subjected.
The stakes are high for the thunderous leader now a private MP: if the commission of seven MPs, including four Conservatives, concludes that he intentionally lied to parliament about the Downing Street holidays during confinement, Boris Johnson risks losing his seat deputy, compromising the rest of his political career.
The commission released photos of the rallies in Downing Street, testimonies, excerpts from statements from the time of Boris Johnson, putting him face to face with his contradictions. Faced with the evidence put forward, he tried to answer point by point, despite some silences and hesitations.
"At all times I have been fully transparent in parliament," he said. "I apologize for inadvertently misleading parliament, but to say I did so deliberately is totally untrue."
Boris Johnson willingly discarded on his former advisers.
The drunken parties in Downing Street during the Covid, revealed in the press for months, had angered the British, for their part strictly confined, who had denounced an intolerable "double standard".
The parliamentary committee, accused by Boris Johnson's supporters of having embarked on a witch hunt, must determine whether he deliberately lied to the House of Commons, in particular when he claimed in December 2021 before MPs that " the rules were followed all the time" in Downing Street during the pandemic.
"Our democracy depends on the certainty that what ministers say to MPs in parliament is the truth. And without that confidence, our entire parliamentary democracy is undermined," said committee chair Harriet Harman.
“I accept that perfect social distancing was not respected (in Downing Street), but that does not mean that what we were doing was incompatible with the rules”, tried Mr. Johnson, who did not expressed no regrets.
About a photo taken during a rally for the departure of a member of his team, he defended himself: "I understand that people who look at this photo will think that it was about an event social. (...) It was not a social event. (...) It was not a party".
Before the hearing, the commission had, in a 110-page document, traced the official statements of Boris Johnson and what was happening then in Downing Street.
In May 2020, Mr Johnson asked "the whole country to obey the rules", but a few days later took part in a garden party in Downing Street.
On June 10, he "urges everyone to continue to exercise restraint and follow the rules" and on June 19 attends a birthday party thrown for him by his wife Carrie.
And in November 2020, on the occasion of a small party, still in Downing Street, he quips that "it is probably the least respectful gathering of social distancing in the whole of the United Kingdom".
Boris Johnson throughout the hearing pleaded good faith.
His defense, provided in particular by David Pannick, one of the most famous lawyers in the country, cost taxpayers more than 220,000 pounds sterling (249,540 euros), according to British media.
MPs will vote on any penalties he could face, including a suspension which, if longer than 10 days, could trigger a by-election in his constituency, where his majority is slim.
Boris Johnson's statements have sparked the anger of the families of victims of the pandemic, which has killed more than 220,000 people in the United Kingdom, the highest toll in Europe after Russia.
"If he had respect, he would resign his seat as an MP and calmly reflect on the pain and suffering he has inflicted", commented the association "Bereaved Families for Justice".
22/03/2023 19:15:16 - London (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
