London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Boris Johnson says no evidence he ‘intentionally or recklessly’ misled MPs over Partygate

Boris Johnson says no evidence he ‘intentionally or recklessly’ misled MPs over Partygate

Johnson lays out case for the defense ahead of committee grilling Wednesday.

Boris Johnson accepted that he misled the House of Commons over the Partygate scandal — but denied doing so “intentionally or recklessly,” as he urged MPs not to listen to his aide-turned-nemesis Dominic Cummings.

Johnson will face the cross-party privileges committee Wednesday over the accusation he lied to parliament about the Partygate row, which saw a host of rule-breaching parties held in government offices in 2020 and 2021 despite strict lockdown restrictions. Johnson was among those later fined by police for breaches.

In a 52-page dossier setting out his defense ahead of a marathon committee grilling Wednesday, the former prime minister said the only evidence supporting claims he intentionally misled parliament came from his former top adviser, Cummings, who he said could not be “treated as a credible witness” given the “animus” he bears towards Johnson.

In key arguments made by Johnson Tuesday, the ex-PM contended that:

— The committee has not produced any evidence Johnson intentionally or recklessly misled the house.

— Multiple witnesses present at December 2021 meetings saw civil servants assure Johnson that the rules were followed in No. 10 Downing Street.

— At the time of the scandal breaking he had asked his team to “get the truth about this party out there” — but only used the word “party” because that’s how the incident had been referred to in the media.

— He still doesn’t understand why he was fined for attending a gathering for his birthday in June 2020, and that the police have never explained it to him.

— That the committee is “straying beyond its terms of reference” by examining adherence to “guidance,” rather than explicit COVID rules.


‘Good faith’


The privileges committee inquiry is centered around statements Johnson made in the House of Commons in December 2021, where he claimed, among other things, that “the rules were followed at all times.”

This statement was made several months after Johnson attended several gatherings on government property — including a party held for his birthday which he was eventually fined for attending.

“I accept that the House of Commons was misled by my statements that the rules and guidance had been followed completely at No 10,” Johnson wrote in the dossier. But, he argued, “when the statements were made, they were made in good faith and on the basis of what I honestly knew and believed at the time.”

He added: “I did not intentionally or recklessly mislead the House on 1 December 2021, 8 December 2021, or on any other date. I would never have dreamed of doing so. The only exception is the assertions of the discredited Dominic Cummings, which are not supported by any documentation.”

Cummings — a key architect of Johnson’s 2019 general election victory who has become a fierce critic of his old boss since leaving Downing Street a year later — said Tuesday that Johnson’s assertions were “not just obviously false,” but were examples of “further misinformation from him.”


‘Working day and night’


While Johnson thanks the committee for its “hard work,” he also takes direct aim at the basis of its investigation, arguing that he was right to rely on “assurance that I received from trusted advisers” about whether on not the government gatherings stayed with in the rules.

Claims he should not have been so reliant on assurances from aides are, he argues “unprecedented and absurd,” given that he was “working day and night to manage” to manage the government’s COVID-19 response.

“It was self-evidently reasonable for me to rely on assurances that I received from my advisers,” he said.

“The suggestion to the contrary would have profound and debilitating implications for the future of debate in the House, and for the ability of Ministers to rely on the advice of their officials when answering questions in Parliament,” Johnson added.

In a thinly-veiled swipe at Johnson Tuesday, the committee said the ex-PM’s submission “contains no new documentary evidence.”

And it defended a gap between receipt of the dossier and its publication by pointing to “a number of errors and typos” in his original submission, as well as the need for redactions to protect the identity of witnesses, “particularly junior-ranking civil servants.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×