Boris Johnson submits last-minute evidence for 'nonsense' Privileges Committee report

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson sent a last minute submission to the Privileges Committee and then attacked them in a statement, ITV News Politics Editor Robert Peston has the latest

Boris Johnson has given last minute evidence to the Privileges Committee before it publishes a report expected to find that he deliberately misled Parliament.

A spokesman for the parliamentary committee said it was “dealing with” the information, which the former prime minister sent over at 11.57pm on Monday.

The report, expected to be published this week, has been composed by a group of MPs and seeks to determine whether the former prime minister misled Parliament over No 10 lockdown parties.

Speaking on Tuesday evening, Boris Johnson said: “The Privileges Committee should publish their report and let the world judge their nonsense. They have no excuse for delay.

“Their absurdly unfair rules do not even allow any criticism of their findings. I have made my views clear to the committee in writing – and will do so more widely when they finally publish.”

Mr Johnson quit Parliament on Friday after he received a draft copy of the report's findings.

The publication of its findings had already been pushed back towards the end of this week, reportedly due to printing problems in Parliament, before Mr Johnson’s 11th-hour representations.

In a 1,000-word exit statement, the former prime minister accused the committee, chaired by Labour's Harriet Harman but with a Conservative majority, of “bias” and likened it to a “kangaroo court”.

The Privileges Committee has rejected Mr Johnson's defence that senior officials advised him Covid rules and guidance had been followed in No 10, according to the Times.

A senior aide in fact warned him against claiming to the Commons that social distancing guidelines were observed, the paper reported.

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Following his shock resignation, Mr Johnson launched into a public spat with one-time ally Rishi Sunak over his resignation honours list.

The Prime Minister suggested his former boss wanted him to ignore the recommendations of the House of Lords Appointments Commission.

Mr Johnson’s camp accused him of having “secretly blocked” the peerages of former culture secretary Nadine Dorries and other allies in his resignation list.

The former prime minister said: “Rishi Sunak is talking rubbish.

“To honour these peerages it was not necessary to overrule Holac – but simply to ask them to renew their vetting, which was a mere formality.”

One Downing Street source said the Cabinet Office had made it clear to Mr Johnson that there is no re-vetting process, while the Prime Minister’s spokesman said it is “entirely untrue to say that anyone from No 10 attempted to remove or change” the list.

Despite the expected findings of the Privileges Committee this week, Mr Johnson insisted “I’ll be back”, quoting Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator.