Wednesday afternoon will see a first.
Never has a former prime minister – or even a minister – been hauled before the most senior committee in parliament accused of lying to parliament.
Yet the whole House of Commons unanimously agreed last year that what Boris Johnson had repeatedly told the House about parties in Downing Street during the Covid lockdown ‘appeared to mislead the House’.
True, it’s not the first time a minister has lied. John Profumo famously lied to the Commons about his affair with Christine Keeler in 1963 and was forced to resign as a minister and as an MP when he was found out. But even he never appeared before the Privileges Committee.
A lot is at stake. If Johnson fails to persuade the Committee of his honesty, he could face suspension from the House and a by-election, which many predict he would lose. He wouldn’t be the first former PM to lose his seat. But he’d be the first turfed out in disgrace.
That is why his dwindling team of loyal cronies has been out in force. They’ve attacked the process.
They’ve had a go at the Tories on the committee and they’ve denounced the chair. But I am 100 per cent certain that every MP on the committee will follow the evidence, give him a fair hearing and come to a conclusion without fear or favour.
I won’t be in the chair. Long before the Commons referred this matter to the committee I said many times on TV and radio that I think he lied deliberately, carelessly and recklessly.
That’s why I couldn’t be an impartial judge and why I stepped aside and the committee elected a new chair, as agreed with all the political parties, Harriet Harman.
Johnson’s team is trying to divert attention from the facts of the case.
He said everything was within the rules. It wasn’t.
He said there were no parties, but he attended some of them and was fined for it by the police.
Even his advisers found it difficult to justify what had gone on.
He certainly never gave the Commons the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
There’s even more at stake for the Commons, though. Parliament can only function properly if ministers tell the truth and correct the record as soon as possible if they accidentally make a mistake.
Ministers wield power. They spend taxpayers’ money. That’s why they must be especially diligent about the truth.
When Profumo was forced to resign, Harold Wilson, who was then Leader of the Opposition, said that ‘there was a danger of a widespread cynicism developing about our public life, about our Government, about this House’.
The same is true today.
People are cynical about MPs’ ability to tell the truth, to own up when they get caught or issue a proper apology.
Such cynicism about democracy is dangerous. It could lead to a sharp lurch to the extreme right or extreme left.
Wednesday will be a chance to put the whole sorry saga behind us and restore proper standards in public life.
