MPs investigating whether Boris Johnson misled Parliament over lockdown parties in Downing Street have rejected a claim that their procedures are “unfair” and “fundamentally flawed”.
Lord Pannick KC and Jason Pobjoy were commissioned by the government while Boris Johnson was still Prime Minister to offer a legal opinion on the inquiry. On 2 September their opinion was published stating that the inquiry would be ruled unlawful by the courts.
The Privileges Committee today responded to the criticism, stating its own legal advisers had found that Lord Pannick’s opinion was founded on “a systemic misunderstanding of the parliamentary process and misplaced analogies with the criminal law”.
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In their statement, they also rejected Lord Pannick’s view that a fair procedure required that Mr Johnson should be able to be represented at its hearings by counsel who would be able speak on his behalf and cross-examine witnesses.
The committee also dismissed Lord Pannick’s argument that a failure by the committee to make an explicit distinction on whether Mr Johnson misled MPs intentionally could have a “chilling effect” on parliamentary debate, with MPs fearful of mis-speaking.
It noted there were well-established ways for minister to correct the record when the House was misled, which had been used at the rate of more than 200-a-year in recent years. Mr Johnson in his ministerial career had made a number of formal corrections, including on five occasions when he was foreign secretary.
In a statement it said: "The committee’s resolution on procedure makes clear that there will be multiple opportunities for Mr Johnson to consider the evidence and respond to points made by other witnesses or the committee, concluding in an opportunity to comment on any criticisms included in the draft of the final report."
“It is not the case that Mr Johnson would be called to give evidence without knowing the detail of the case that he has to meet. That is a fundamental misunderstanding of the committee’s procedure.”
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