AN SNP MP shut down a claim from a former Boris Johnson aide that the former PM had been deprived of a livelihood following the Privileges Committee report into him.
Guto Harri, who previously worked as Downing Street’s director of communications, was discussing the news about Johnson on Thursday night's panel show.
Asked if he disagreed with the committee, he said: “I don’t think that if you can deprive people of their livelihood, you need to be beyond reproach.
“The idea the former leader of the Labour Party [Harriet Harman] can decide essentially on the process and the outcome that drives out a Conservative prime minister of Parliament for me, whether you like Boris or not, does not look like due process.”
“We’ve now got this unkempt manchild who has finally been chucked out of parliament and I don’t think deserves to return” SNP’s David Linden says Boris Johnson’s honours list should be “scrapped” and legal fees repaid after the Partygate report#bbcqt https://t.co/9G5gsPtMwg pic.twitter.com/yYcBlzazIg
— BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) June 15, 2023
He said the UK “throws overboard” the idea of being “innocent until proven guilty” too often.
The committee is made up of seven members – four Conservative MPs, two Labour MPs and one SNP MP.
David Linden, who serves as the MP for Glasgow East, disputed the claim. He said: “Let’s not forget, this is a guy who has voted three times in the House of Commons since he left office and earned £5 million.
“I think Boris Johnson probably isn’t going to go hungry as a result of leaving Parliament.”
Linden’s answer was met with applause. He added that Johnson had always been “a bit creative with the truth” and that “chickens have come home to roost” for the Conservative Party.
“We’ve now got this unkempt man-child, who has finally been chucked out of Parliament and I don’t think deserves to return”, Linden said.
He continued: “I would go further than that. I think the £245,000 of your money that was spent on legal costs should be recouped from Boris Johnson.
“I think the honours list should be scrapped and I think the £115,000 a year he’s due to get for the rest of his life as a former prime minister should also be waived as well.
“We should all move on from this sorry saga – the cost of living crisis, the NHS and everything that matters to the people in this room.”
