Boris Johnson has renewed his attack on the privileges committee after it concluded the former Prime Minister deliberately misled Parliament in its partygate probe.
The privileges committee, which is headed up by Labour's former deputy leader Harriet Harman, recommended a 90-day suspension for Johnson and suggested the ex-Prime Minister should not have access to a former member's pass.
It also found he deliberately misled the House of Commons, deliberately misled the privileges committee, impugned the committee, undermined the democratic process of the House and was complicit in a campaign of abuse and attempted intimidation of the committee.
The former Prime Minister, who announced he would quit as the MP for Uxbridge & South Ruislip last Friday, penned a 1,700-word response to the seven-member committee's report.
Boris JohnsonPAJohnson lamented the partygate probe as "absurd" and even "deranged".
The 58-year-old wrote: "The committee now says that I deliberately misled the House, and at the moment I spoke I was consciously concealing from the House my knowledge of illicit events.
"This is rubbish. It is a lie. In order to reach this deranged conclusion, the committee is obliged to say a series of things that are patently absurd, or contradicted by the facts."
He added: "This report is a charade. I was wrong to believe in the committee or its good faith.
"The terrible truth is that it is not I who has twisted the truth to suit my purposes. It is Harriet Harman and her committee.
Harriet Harman has been leading the investigationPA"This is a dreadful day for MPs and for democracy.
"This decision means that no MP is free from vendetta, or expulsion on trumped up charges by a tiny minority who want to see him or her gone from the Commons."
The former Prime Minister also pointed out how a majority of the privileges committee voted against Brexit in 2016, highlighted that Sir Bernard Jenkin attended a birthday party event while restrictions were in place and argued the electorate should decide who sits in Parliament.
The committee released its 108-page report at around 9am.
It said: "We came to the view that some of Mr Johnson’s denials and explanations were so disingenuous that they were by their very nature deliberate attempts to mislead the Committee and the House, while others demonstrated deliberation because of the frequency with which he closed his mind to the truth."
The privileges committee, led by Harriet Harman, recommended a 90-day suspension
PAThe seven-member committee added: "The subject on which Mr Johnson is alleged to have misled the House could not have been more serious.
"The COVID-19 pandemic was the biggest crisis our country has faced in generations and the greatest peacetime challenge in a century.
"It disrupted lives, separated friends and families, closed businesses, damaged livelihoods and, most tragically of all, has been associated with the deaths of over 150,000 people in the UK."
The former Prime Minister received a draft copy of the report last Thursday.
Johnson sensationally announced he would quit as the MP for Uxbridge & South Ruislip the following day, branding the partygate probe a "witch-hunt".
Boris Johnson leaving his London home
PAThe recommended 90-day suspension was well above the 10-day sanction needed to potentially force a by-election.
A recall petition could have been organised had Johnson not resigned and the former Prime Minister could have faced a bruising by-election if 10 per cent of registered votes signed the poll.
Johnson could have been dealt an even more humiliating blow by contesting the by-election, with opinion polls suggesting Labour will likely gain the West London seat.
The privileges committee spent 14 months drawing up its findings.
MPs will likely debate and potentially vote on the recommendations on Monday.
Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt, who served as Trade Policy Minister and Paymaster General during Johnson's premiership, will set out further details when she updates MPs on parliamentary business at 10.30am.
