Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
Boris Johnson Publishes Partygate Defense
Partygate is the name given to the scandal(s) that came out of Number 10 Downing Street when Boris Johnson was Prime Minister. On more than one occasion, parties at the official residence of the PM violated the Covid lock-down rules. People have been fined by the police, including Mr. Johnson. Now, he is under scrutiny from the Privileges Committee for potentially misleading the House of Commons over the matter. He will meet with the committee tomorrow, so today, he published his defense. It amounts to, "yes, I did it. But it was an accident." He is trying to avoid being ousted from the House with that defense. Something, however, has to happen because he has admitted misleading the House.
The committee has within its power the ability to exonerate him or determine that he is guilty. If guilty, they will decide among three levels of seriousness. He might have misled the House inadvertently, in which case he may have to write an apology to the members. More seriously would be recklessly misleading the House. That could mean having to read an apology in the House. Most seriously, he could have misled the House intentionally. If it comes to that, he could be removed from the House and might face an immediate by-election for the seat.
The defense document reads in part:
I accept that the House of Commons was misled by my statements that the Rules and Guidance had been followed completely at No. 10
But when the statements were made, they were made in good faith and on the basis of what I honestly knew and believed at the time.
I did not intentionally or recklessly mislead the House on 1 December 2021, 8 December 2021, or on any other date. I would never have dreamed of doing so.
So, there it is. He is trying to plead guilty to inadvertently misleading the House, angling for a slap on the wrist. Given that the Tories have a majority on the Privileges Committee, this puts the majority in a difficult position. They have to decide how severely he must be punished, but his popularity within the Tory Party means they need an airtight case of intentional deception to do much more than slap his wrist. Many will say that he admitted an error, and the nation should move on. It is the easy way to put this in the rearview mirror.
The Privileges Committee has issued its response to the publication. The BBC reported,
The Privileges Committee says Boris Johnson\\'s final written evidence did not arrive until 08:02 GMT this morning because the original contained "a number of errors and typos". More pointedly it says: "Johnson\\'s written submission contains no new documentary evidence."
New documentary evidence would be surprising because countless people have been over it again and again. The purpose of this defense is to capture control of the narrative, not clear the former PM. He is blaming his advisers, in a Trumpist way.
"The Committee also now appears to be alleging that it was in some way reckless for me to rely on assurances that I received from trusted advisers. That allegation is unprecedented and absurd. I was the prime minister of the country, working day and night to manage the government\\'s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It was self-evidently reasonable for me to rely on assurances that I received from my advisers."
It will be hard for the Committee to throw the book at him. He has muddied the waters too well.
© Copyright 2023 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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