June 12th 2023.
Rishi Sunak has accused Boris Johnson of asking him to do something he was not prepared to do. At the London Tech Week conference, the Prime Minister said that Boris Johnson had asked him to either overrule the Holac Committee or to make promises that he did not think were right. He then went on to say that if people did not like that, they would have to accept it.
The Prime Minister has been adamant that he will do things differently in order to change politics and to ensure that the country works better. This comes as Boris Johnson resigned as an MP on Friday, as well as reports of Conservative MPs being nominated for the House of Lords, yet not appearing on Boris's resignation honours list.
Government figures have claimed that neither Rishi Sunak nor Downing Street removed names from Boris Johnson's peerages submission. Michael Gove has stated that the appropriate procedure and the correct precedent was followed.
MPs have pledged to continue the investigation process into whether the former Prime Minister misled Parliament over No 10 lockdown parties, despite Boris Johnson's Commons exit. The Privileges Committee is set to meet to conclude its inquiry on Monday, and the seven-person panel is chaired by veteran Labour MP Harriet Harman. Reports suggest the panel is set to recommend at least a 10-day suspension, reaching the threshold for a by-election in Boris Johnson's constituency.
In response to the inquiry, Boris Johnson has labeled the Committee as a "kangaroo court" and accused them of bias. The Privileges Committee has responded that Boris Johnson "impugned the integrity of the House" with his attack. MPs are set to announce the results of the Partygate enquiry this week, and Michael Gove has said that any vote on the findings is a "matter for the House of Commons".
Rishi Sunak has spoken out about his disagreements with Boris Johnson over the House of Lords appointments. Appearing at the London Tech Week conference, he said: ‘Boris Johnson asked me to do something that I wasn’t prepared to do because I didn’t think it was right. That was to either overrule the Holac committee or to make promises to people. Now, I wasn’t prepared to do that. I didn’t think it was right and if people don’t like that, then tough.’
The Prime Minister was adamant that he was not going to compromise on this issue, and instead wanted to focus on growing the economy and maintaining a leadership in innovative industries.
The row over the Lords appointments comes as the Privileges Committee is set to meet to conclude its inquiry into whether the former Prime Minister misled Parliament over No 10 lockdown parties. MPs have pledged to continue the investigation process despite Boris Johnson’s Commons exit, despite accusations of a ‘witch hunt’.
In a statement before his resignation, Mr Johnson accused the committee of ‘bias’ and likened it to a ‘kangaroo court’. He argued that he was saying what he believed to be true at the time and had corrected the record as soon as possible. He also highlighted the fact that the same building was occupied by Rishi Sunak, and that they had believed to be working lawfully together.
It remains to be seen what the outcome of the inquiry will be, with the panel set to publish their findings in the coming days. MPs will then decide whether any further action needs to be taken.
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