Boris Johnson finally came clean about misleading MPs yesterday, but tried to shift the blame onto everyone else.
It took the shameless Tory six months to admit he dished out false statements to Parliament about lockdown parties in No10.
But the former PM claims he did not do it intentionally as he trotted out a list of feeble excuses for the rule-breaking, while throwing aides under a bus.
Mr Johnson faces a four-hour Commons grilling today on why he misled Parliament after the Mirror exposed Partygate.
In a dossier of defence, released yesterday by the Privileges Committee, he insisted when he told MPs in 2021 he did not know the events he was at were parties he acted in “good faith”.
But grieving relatives of virus victims branded the claim “sickening”, after the rest of the country stood by the rules he made that he and his staff broke.
Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice spokeswoman Becky Kummer said: “He isn’t fit for public office and the fact he still thinks he can lie his way out of it tells you all you need to know about his character.”
She called for him to quit as an MP. And in a poll last night 70% of voters said he misled Parliament while 37% said he should resign now.
In the dossier, Mr Johnson insisted all rules were followed, despite him and others being fined by police over the parties.
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He claimed he was “working day and night” to combat the pandemic, but photos showed him drinking and joking with colleagues. The committee has already said it would have been “obvious” to him boozy gatherings in Downing St breached rules.
But brazen Mr Johnson claimed the snaps exonerate him, as they were taken by a No10 photographer. He said in his 52-page defence paper: “They provide further support that this was in no sense ‘obvious’. A suggestion that we would have held events which were ‘obviously’ contrary to the rules, and allowed those events to be immortalised by the official photographer is implausible.”
Mr Johnson, whose defence over Partygate is being funded by the taxpayer, heaped blame on No10 staff for telling him rules were followed.
He said: “The committee 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.” But his denial parties took place is undermined by a message he sent his communications director. Mr Johnson wrote: “On 10 December 2021, I sent a message to Jack Doyle, stating: ‘Is there a way we could get the truth about this party out there’.
“I trusted the assurances Jack Doyle and others had given me, so I wanted the ‘truth’ as they had explained it and as I believed it, to be published. I used ‘party’ as shorthand as that is how it was being referred to in the media.
“It is of course true my statements to Parliament that the rules and guidance had been followed at all times did not turn out to be correct, and I take this opportunity to apologise to the House.” But he claimed he “did not intentionally or recklessly mislead the House”. He added: “I would never have dreamed of doing so.”
Mr Johnson said last night: “I look forward very much to the committee session. I believe the evidence conclusively shows I did not knowingly or recklessly mislead Parliament.” A spokesman for the committee said the dossier contains “no new documentary evidence”.
Lib Dem MP Layla Moran said: “Boris Johnson’s taxpayer-funded lawyers can cherry-pick messages and throw as many aides under the bus as they like, but the committee must ensure the full truth comes out.”
The MPs could take weeks to report their findings. If they rule Mr Johnson misled the House he could be suspended for at least 10 days, sparking a recall petition. And if 10% of voters in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency want him out, a by-election is called.
