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Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has abruptly resigned as a lawmaker, claiming he was the “victim of a witch-hunt”, after being told by a parliamentary committee that he will be sanctioned for misleading Parliament over lockdown-breaking parties at Downing Street during his premiership.
As per PTI report, Johnson, 58, one of the main architects of Brexit, compared the Privileges Committee probe to a “kangaroo court” as he quit.
Johnson’s decision to resign as a Member of Parliament came on Friday as he received a confidential letter from the MP-led Privileges Committee over the crucial matter.
The former Conservative party leader said he was “bewildered and appalled” after receiving the letter from the committee, which is investigating whether he lied to British lawmakers over lockdown-breaking parties during the pandemic, known as ‘Partygate.’ Johnson accused the Commons inquiry of attempting to “drive me out”.
In a statement, he said: “They have still not produced a shred of evidence that I knowingly or recklessly misled the Commons.” Earlier on Friday, he received a copy of the yet-to-be-published report, which he claimed was “riddled with inaccuracies and reeks of prejudice”.
Last year, the Metropolitan Police issued Johnson and then-finance minister Rishi Sunak – who is currently Prime Minister – with a fine for attending a gathering in Downing Street during the Covid-19 lockdown, making Johnson the first sitting UK prime minister to be found guilty of breaking the law.
In evidence given to the Privileges Committee in March, Johnson admitted misleading Parliament but denied doing it on purpose.
He said social distancing had not been “perfect” at gatherings in Downing Street during lockdowns. But he said they were “essential” work events, which he claimed were allowed.
He insisted the guidelines – as he understood them – were followed at all times.
Announcing that he would step down, Johnson issued a lengthy and explosive statement in which the former premier said he was a victim of “a witch hunt” that was taking revenge “for Brexit and ultimately to reverse the 2016 referendum result.” Johnson also criticised Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government, saying that when he left office last year “the government was only a handful of points behind in the polls” but “that gap has now massively widened.” “Just a few years after winning the biggest majority in almost half a century, that majority is now clearly at risk. Our party needs urgently to recapture its sense of momentum and its belief in what this country can do,” he said.
On Partygate, he said, “I did not lie, and I believe that in their hearts the committee know it.” “They know perfectly well that when I spoke in the Commons I was saying what I believed sincerely to be true and what I had been briefed to say, like any other minister,” he said.
