The Privileges Committee report is brutal in its simplicity.
It is so precise that it feels like keyhole surgery, cutting out the cancer. There are no flights of fancy. No elaborate prose.
It lays out the facts that damn Johnson and prove that he lied to the House of Commons and to the committee of the House of Commons in at least 14 different ways.
The committee prove beyond doubt not just that he made a mistake or misspoke when he said no rules were broken in Downing Street, not just that he was careless or reckless with the truth, but that he knowingly and deliberately misled Parliament.
He knew what he was doing all the time. And for that they rightly condemn him outright.
If he hadn’t run for the hills, scared of facing the music in Parliament and in his constituency, he could have been suspended for 90 days.
It wouldn’t have been the longest suspension ever – some MPs have been expelled – but no former Prime Minister has ever been found to have lied repeatedly to Parliament.
He will go down in history as the liar in chief.
Johnson has exploded with a vast stream of incoherent nonsense, like a volcano spewing out lava.
It’s part Kenneth Williams – ‘Infamy, infamy, they’ve all got it in for me’ – but it’s mostly Trump. More lies, more evasions, more refusal to accept responsibility.
No doubt he and his discredited cronies will continue to take pot shots at individual members of the committee and witter on about kangaroo courts.
But the committee was set up when he was prime minister. He appointed the Conservative members – and supported Harriet Harman’s appointment to chair it.
He said he was ‘relaxed’ about being referred to the committee. And the committee bent over backwards to allow him to put his case.
The Government even paid his very expensive legal fees.
And the fact is he lied. Full stop.
Every member of the committee should be given a medal. They have been attacked and vilified, but they followed the evidence and stuck to their guns. They have laid down a marker for all MPs, too.
Lying to Parliament is a contempt of the whole democratic process, especially if you’re a minister. Yes, we all get things wrong sometimes. Fine. But just correct the record as soon as you can.
Now we all know Johnson was and is a scoundrel, I hope every single member of the Commons will vote for the report next week, including every member of the Government.
Anyone who abstains or votes against will be giving a free pass for lying. Of course, Rishi Sunak should ensure Johnson cannot stand as a Conservative candidate again, but he should also chuck him out of the Conservative Party.
Somehow, I doubt Sunak will be so brave. After all, why on earth did he allow Johnson’s resignation honours list to go through when he knew this report was imminent?
Why doesn’t he cancel it now? It is full of some of the most discredited people in British politics.
Why doesn’t he also stop Johnson getting £115,000 a year from the taxpayer for life as a former PM?
Occasionally I feel sorry for Johnson. He’s like a lost child. And he’s brought all this on himself. He threw away his opportunity.
But then I remember the people who lost their livelihood because they stuck by the rules during the lockdowns, and the people who couldn’t even hold their loved ones’ hand as they died in a care home.
That’s when I think justice has finally been done. And good riddance.
* Follow Mirror Politics on Snapchat, Tiktok, Twitter and Facebook
