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Jacob Rees-Mogg, Nadine Dorries and Priti Patel undermined the Commons inquiry into Boris Johnson and Partygate, a special report has said.
The Privileges Committee found allies of Mr Johnson had put ‘improper pressure’ on the Parliamentary group which examined allegations he lied to MPs over Partygate.
They highlighted comments made by the three former cabinet ministers along with Zac Goldsmith who is currently minister for overseas territories, MPs Michael Fabricant and Mark Jenkinson, and former Member Brendan Clarke-Smith.
All could face suspension from Parliament after the committee claimed they were part of a co-ordinated attempt to undermine the panel.
The committee said MPs should consider whether their actions could be considered a contempt of Parliament and what further action to take.
‘Those Members did not choose to engage through any proper process such as the submission of letters or evidence to our inquiry, but by attacking the members of the committee, in order to influence their judgment,’ the committee’s report said.
Their aim was to ‘influence the outcome of the inquiry’, ‘impede the work of the committee by inducing members to resign from it’, ‘discredit the committee’s conclusions if those conclusions were not what they wanted’ and ‘discredit the committee as a whole’, it said.
The report added: ‘The committee is particularly concerned about attacks mounted by experienced colleagues, including a serving minister of the Crown, a former leader of the House and a former secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport.’
In the 14 page document, the committee set out ‘some of the most disturbing examples of the coordinated campaign to interfere with the work of the Committee’.
This includes Mr Rees-Mogg saying on GB News the committee is ‘not even a proper legal setup’ and called them a ‘political committee against Boris Johnson’.
They also noted Ms Dorries tweeted in June: ‘We also need to keep a close eye on the careers of the Conservative MPs who sat on that committee. Do they suddenly find themselves on chicken runs into safe seats? Gongs? Were promises made? We need to know if they were.’
Mr Rees-Mogg dodged questions from journalists after being named in the Privileges Committee report.
In footage aired on Sky News, he declined to comment on the criticism contained in the report.
He said: ‘I’m actually going to church, because it is the feast of St Peter and St Paul and a holy day of obligation and I would encourage you all to do the same. Then I shall be at the Test match, which I am looking forward to.’
Mr Clarke-Smith said he was ‘shocked and disappointed’ to be named after members pointed to his tweet from June 9, when he said: ‘Tonight we saw the end result of a parliamentary witch-hunt which would put a banana republic to shame.
Were any of Boris Johnson’s allies criticised in the report honoured in his resignation list?
Mr Johnson nominated several senior officials implicated in the partygate scandal for gongs.
The publication of the former prime minister’s honours list sparked a row with Rishi Sunak over claims some names had been removed.
Nadine Dorries
Ms Dorries was not put forward for the House of Lords despite speculation she would be on the published list.
The former culture secretary stood down as an MP ‘with immediate effect’ just over an hour before the list was released.
Priti Patel
The former home secretary was made a dame in Mr Johnson’s honours list.
Jacob Rees-Mogg and Michael Fabricant
The former secretary of state was knighted in Mr Johnson’s honours list, alongside veteran conservative MP Michael Fabricant.
‘It is the people of this country who elect and decide on their MPs. It’s called democracy and we used to value it here. Sadly this no longer appears to be the case.’
The Privileges Committee concluded earlier this month the former prime minister committed ‘repeated contempts’ of Parliament.
They found Mr Johnson deliberately misled MPs with his Partygate denials before being complicit in a campaign of abuse and intimidation.
The seven-person panel, which was chaired by veteran Labour MP Harriet Harman but had a Conservative majority, used its 106-page report to warn Mr Johnson’s most vocal defenders they would face scrutiny themselves.
In its Partygate report published on June 15, the Privileges Committee said: ‘From the outset of this inquiry there has been a sustained attempt, seemingly co-ordinated, to undermine the committee’s credibility and, more worryingly, that of those members serving on it.
‘The committee is concerned that if these behaviours go unchallenged, it will be impossible for the House to establish such a committee to conduct sensitive and important inquiries in the future.
‘The House must have a committee to defend its rights and privileges, and it must protect members of the House doing that duty from formal or informal attack or undermining designed to deter and prevent them from doing that duty.
‘We will be making a special report separately to the House dealing with these matters.’
It recommended Mr Johnson should have faced a 90-day suspensio, but he resigned from parliament.
The former prime minister and his allies have since stepped up their attacks, with Mr Johnson claiming the committee had reached a ‘deranged conclusion’.
In his resignation statement, he labelled the investigation a ‘kangaroo court’ that was akin to a ‘witch hunt’.
Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries, one of Mr Johnson’s most vocal supporters, urged voters to turf out Tory MPs who backed the committee’s report.
‘Any Conservative MP who would vote for this report is fundamentally not a Conservative and will be held to account by members and the public. Deselections may follow,’ she said on the day of the report’s publication.
That did not deter MPs from voting overwhelmingly to back the report, with only seven voting against the committee’s findings and 354 voting in favour.
Bassetlaw MP Brendan Clarke-Smith called the MPs’ conclusions ‘spiteful, vindictive and overreaching’.
Former cabinet minister Sir Simon Clarke – who was knighted in Mr Johnson’s resignation honours – said the punishment dealt out by the committee was ‘absolutely extraordinary to the point of sheer vindictiveness’.
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, another honoured by Mr Johnson, suggested the committee’s ‘fundamental judgment’ was ‘wrong’.
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