We did not need the verdict of the privileges committee to understand the flaws in Boris Johnson’s character. It was clear long before he became prime minister how manifestly unsuited he was for any kind of public office, let alone running the country. But a cross-party group of MPs last week published a damning report that outlined how he deliberately misled parliament about the scale and nature of wrongdoing in Downing Street during the pandemic. He may now be gone from politics, but the serious questions for the Conservative party – how on earth so many of its MPs were willing to propel him to and sustain him in Number 10 during the worst national crisis in decades – remain hanging over Rishi Sunak’s premiership.
As the privileges committee outlines in its report, for a minister to deliberately deceive the Commons is a matter of great national importance. It undermines the very functioning of parliamentary democracy, whereby the elected legislature is responsible for scrutinising the work of government.
