Boris Johnson risks being forced out of the House of Commons if an investigation concludes misled Parliament, with the former Prime Minister raging against a "cynical stitch-up".
Yesterday the cross-party Privileges Committee said the Commons may have been misled at least four times on whether he was aware of lockdown rule breaking in Parliament.
The committee will cross-examine what Johnson knew at the time of his various denials of Covid rule breaches to the Commons, including saying on December 8, 2021 that no rules had been broken despite Ms Gray and the police concluding otherwise.
If the inquiry finds that the former Prime Minister deliberately misled parliament, he could be suspended from the House of Commons.
Boris Johnson said the investigation against him was 'cynical stitch up'
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Under parliamentary rules, a suspension of 14 days or longer would give Johnon's constituents the right to trigger a by-election which could lead to him being forced out of the Commons.
Last night the Prime Minister warned that most of the evidence being used in the Privileges Committee investigation originates from the Sue Gray report he commissioned while he was in office.
He suggested the motives behind the civil servant's investigation should be called into question after it was revealed this week that she is to join Sir Keir Starmer's political team.
He told the Daily Express: "This is insane and a cynical stitch-up. It really is a kangaroo court.
"It is also clear that what I have been saying about this matter from the beginning has been vindicated."
He added: “I would never have appointed Sue Gray had I thought six months later she would be Keir Starmer’s head of staff.
"There is no evidence at all I misled Parliament and there’s no smoking gun that I acted improperly. This just totally stinks."
On Thursday Labour announced Gray would be joining Labour as Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff.
Sue Gray was announced as Sir Keir Starmer's new chief of staff this week
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The Whitehall veteran quit the Cabinet Office to take on the party political job.
In a statement Johnson said: “It is surreal to discover that the committee proposes to rely on evidence culled and orchestrated by Sue Gray, who has just been appointed chief of staff to the leader of the Labour Party.
“This is particularly concerning given that the committee says it is proposing to rely on ‘the findings in the second permanent secretary’s report’ as ‘relevant facts which the committee will take into account’.”
Sir Keir refused to say when conversations with Ms Gray began about a role in Labour but he party has dismissed claims the civil servant's move to the Leader of the Opposition's office proved a plot to oust the former Prime Minister as “ludicrous”.
