MPs approve unopposed motion to set up inquiry into claims PM misled MPs over Partygate
Nigel Evans, the deputy Speaker, calls the vote. There are no objections, and so the motion goes through on the nod.
That means MPs have voted to trigger a privileges committee inquiry into claims that Boris Johnson misled MPs over Partygate. You can read the motion in full at 11.35am.
But the committee will not start its “substantive” work until the Met police inquiry into Partygate is over.
The shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has tweeted this:
Honesty and integrity matter in our politics, and for our democracy.
Today the Conservatives failed to stand up for either.
Britain deserves better.
— Rachel Reeves (@RachelReevesMP) April 21, 2022
Asked if a general election should be called now, Sir Keir Starmer said: “I think the prime minister’s lost trust, I don’t think he has the moral authority to lead, and I think he should go.
“Obviously I can’t force that – it’s for his own MPs to reflect on the situation they are in and decide for themselves whether they’re still prepared to go on defending the indefensible. I don’t think they should. I think they should call on him to go.” Pressed on whether that means he does not think there should be a general election now, he said: “I think many people think he should resign, including some of his own MPs, but it’s only when the majority of them think that he should go that in the end he will go.” He added: “I think the country is crying out for change, so of course I think there should be change.
“But the issue before the house today was whether the prime minister had the confidence of his own MPs to support him in relation to what I think were misleading statements made to the house.
“And in the end his MPs showed that they didn’t support him in that.”
Sir Ed Davey believes Boris Johnson is too “distracted” by the Partygate allegations to lead the country.
The leader of the Liberal Democrats told BBC News: “The Tory MPs were clearly too embarrassed to back the prime minister today but I’m afraid they are too weak to sack him. “And I think that’s what we need, we need the prime minister gone. “The country is facing some huge crises: the cost of living crisis here at home hitting millions of families and pensioners, as well as the international crisis in Ukraine. “And we need a prime minister who can provide leadership, who isn’t distracted and who has the trust of the British people.
It is pretty clear Boris Johnson has lost that trust and we have a Conservative party incapable of taking the measures that are needed to restore trust.
The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, said: “Honesty and integrity matter in our politics, and for our democracy. Today the Conservatives failed to stand up for either.
Boris Johnson has lost the trust of the public over parties held in Downing Street during lockdown. Now it’s clear he has lost the confidence of his MPs. Today’s humiliating climb-down showed that they know they can no longer defend the indefensible.
While the prime minister dodges accountability, the British public is demanding action on the cost of living crisis. It has never been more clear that Boris Johnson’s authority is shot and he is unable to lead.
Britain deserves better.
Here is the Commons Hansard for today’s debate. The first two-and-a-half hours of the debate are already up (up to Clive Efford’s speech). Further speeches will be added as the afternoon goes on. Speeches normally appear on Hansard online about three hours after they were delivered.
Andrew Sparrow
Downing Street has indicated that it will tell the public if Boris Johnson or the cabinet secretary, Simon Case, receive a fine (or a further fine in Johnson’s case) between now and the local elections on 5 May – even though the Met police does not plan to make any further announcements about fines during this period. (See 1.53pm.) A No 10 spokesperson said:
We’ve committed before to being transparent and to letting people know if that were the case. That hasn’t changed. But specifically the announcement made today – it’s clearly a matter for the Met police, it’s their investigation and it’s an independent matter for them.
The spokesperson said that he was not aware of any conversations between Downing Street and Scotland Yard preceding the Met announcement.
That is all from me for today. My colleague Nadeem Badshah is taking over now.
This is from Tobias Ellwood, the Conservative chair of the Commons defence committee. It’s a message to his Tory colleagues. Ellwood has already said publicly that Boris Johnson should go.
An extraordinary 24 hours in Parliament.
It’s time to stop drinking the Kool-Aid.
— Tobias Ellwood MP (@Tobias_Ellwood) April 21, 2022
The latest edition of the Guardian’s Politics Weekly podcast is out now. As MPs approve an unopposed motion to set up inquiry into claims Boris Johnson misled MPs over Partygate and the home secretary, Priti Patel, has been heavily criticised over the legality of her plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff stands in for John Harris, and asks what happens when ministers no longer seem afraid to push the boundaries of the law? Gaby is joined by Guardian parliamentary sketch writer John Crace and Dr Hannah White, deputy director of the Institute for Government and author of Held in Contempt.
The barrister Adam Wagner, who is an expert on Covid restrictions, has posted a long and interesting thread on Twitter on the Met police’s decision not to publicise any further Partygate fines until after the local elections. It starts here.
Wagner is critical of the decision. Here are his conclusions.
To be fair to the Met, I can see why, reading NPCC guidance as a whole, they might thing “ooh we shouldn’t be releasing information” which could influence the election. But they are missing the point that deciding not to release information will itself influence the election.
— Adam Wagner (@AdamWagner1) April 21, 2022
Also, they will not be releasing the name of any politicians, as per their policy. Just that FPNs have been issued. It is up to the politicians to say whether they have been given one.
— Adam Wagner (@AdamWagner1) April 21, 2022
MPs approve unopposed motion to set up inquiry into claims PM misled MPs over Partygate
Nigel Evans, the deputy Speaker, calls the vote. There are no objections, and so the motion goes through on the nod.
That means MPs have voted to trigger a privileges committee inquiry into claims that Boris Johnson misled MPs over Partygate. You can read the motion in full at 11.35am.
But the committee will not start its “substantive” work until the Met police inquiry into Partygate is over.
