PRIME Minister Rishi Sunak was left red-faced after admitting he had not read the Privileges Committee report condemning the actions of seven of his MPs.
Labour MP Chris Bryant clashed with the PM at a meeting of the Liaison Committee on Tuesday, where Sunak admitted he had not fully read the report into the conduct of his MPs.
The Privileges Committee report accused the group of Boris Johnson loyalists of attempting to “undermine and impune” its work, with leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt condemning their behaviour.
Senior MPs Jacob Rees-Mogg, Nadine Dorries and Priti Patel were named in the report alongside Tory peer Zac Goldsmith.
Asked if he would do the same, Sunak said: “I haven’t actually gone through the report yet, so … ”
Bryant asked the PM to clarify that he had not read the Privileges Committee report, to which Sunak replied: “No I haven’t been through the report yet, I’ve seen it being reported and I’ve been very clear in the past that … ”
The Labour MP interrupted to point out that Sunak had called on Tory peer Lord Goldsmith to apologise after being named in the report. Goldsmith would instead quit, with the pair engaging in a briefing war.
The PM said that he had singled out Goldsmith from the other MPs named as he was a serving minister, which Bryant said suggested he had seen enough of the report to call on the peer to apologise.
“Yes, I’ve read the findings report,” the PM said. “I haven’t read the report from cover to cover no.”
“It’s three pages long,” Bryant replied.
The Prime Minister insisted that he had read the findings of the report. The full report, which names the Tory MPs, is 14 pages long.
It comes as Standards Committee chairman Bryant clashed with the PM over his attendance in the Commons chamber.
He challenged him on the failure to deliver a major NHS statement to Parliament and missing the next two sessions of PMQs.
Bryant also questioned Sunak on his absence from votes on the conduct of Owen Paterson and Boris Johnson.
“We are talking about your respect for Parliament,” Bryant said.
In a reference to Downing Street’s comments on the controversial Lord’s Ashes Test, Bryant said: “For two rule-breaking moments you chose not to be in Parliament but yesterday you opined on the rules of cricket.”
Sunak said “I’m very happy to talk about the rules of cricket, as you mentioned”, but Bryant shot back: “But not about rule-breaking in Parliament.”
Appearing in front of the Liaison Committee of senior MPs, Sunak said: “I have always tried to announce what I can in Parliament.”
On his decision to miss the vote on whether Johnson lied to MPs in order to attend a Jewish Care dinner event, he said: “I chose to fulfil my obligation to an incredible charity, for whom that is one of their significant fundraising moments of the year.”
And he defended missing the next two Prime Minister’s Questions appearances to attend an NHS 75th anniversary service on Wednesday and the Nato summit next week.
Sunak said that even if he was not attending the NHS event, he might be expected to attend a ceremony involving the King in Scotland.
He added that Labour leader Keir Starmer will also be speaking at the NHS church service on Wednesday.
The Prime Minister said he is yet to receive predecessor Liz Truss’s resignation honours list.
And asked by Tory MP William Wragg if he thinks it would be appropriate to produce his own resignation honours list when he leaves office, Sunak said: “It is not something I’m focused on.”
We told how earlier in the committee session, the PM admitted that the drinks industry had "raised concerns" over Scotland's deposit return scheme.
