New details of the “Partygate” in the United Kingdom have come to light and threaten the political return of Boris Johnson

The so-called “privilege committee” will investigate whether the former leader lied to Parliament (REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo)

Since being forced to step down in July, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has made no secret of his hopes of returning to politics. But the persistence of the “partygate”, a scandal of the parties during the confinements in the United Kingdom, threatens it with new revelations.

Contradicting his claim that anti-covid rules were always adhered to at his Downing Street offices, Johnson reportedly joked about a celebration in November 2020, during England’s second lockdown, claiming it was “the least socially distanced party in the UK.” United”.

This was revealed by aides interviewed for an ITV podcast, according to whom some of the former prime minister’s team destroyed documents ahead of an internal and police investigation and others had sex at a riotous party the night before Prince Philip’s funeral, Elizabeth II’s husband who died in April 2021.

“When the disgraced former prime minister plans his return, it reminds us yet again why he is totally unsuited for public office,” replied opposition Labor Party number two Angela Rayner.

“While people couldn’t say goodbye to their loved ones or grieve with their families, he was breaking his own rules and then lying to the British people,” he added.

The ITV podcast was broadcast this week, ahead of the upcoming opening of an inquiry by a parliamentary committee that could see Johnson suspended or even expelled from the House of Commons.

An investigation will be opened by a parliamentary commission that could lead to the suspension or even the expulsion of Johnson from the House of Commons (REUTERS / Toby Melville / Pool)

The so-called “privileges committee” will investigate whether the former leader lied to Parliament when, after the leak of a compromising video in December 2021, he assured the deputies that “the rules had been respected at all times.”

“We all saw it live and our jaws dropped,” a Downing Street source who attended the festivities told ITV. “We were surprised that he denied it. He was there. We were there. We were all together,” she added.

After lawmakers from his Conservative Party fed up with the incessant scandals and pushed him to resign, Johnson tried to stage a comeback in October, when his successor, Liz Truss, was also forced from power over her controversial economic policies.

However, after a hasty return from his Caribbean vacation, he ended up withdrawing from the race, allowing the current Conservative Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, to take over from Truss.

A Conservative MP called the ITV podcast “the final nail in the coffin of his political comeback,” according to The Independent newspaper.

But Johnson and his acolytes, like former minister Nadine Dorries, are not giving up.

“Most sane people know that (the Conservative MPs) were dead wrong. Nothing has gone right for us since the day Boris Johnson was ousted,” Dorries told TalkTV on Tuesday.

And Johnson himself made an impassioned defense of his career at London’s Carlton Club, during a recent event that, according to the Sunday Times, was the start of a return offensive before the British local elections in May, which polls predict unfavorable. for Sunak.

But a former minister told the Independent that the new revelations “will make the privileges committee’s investigation tougher on Boris” because “if this is proven, it is clear he knew what was going on.”

“I am concerned that some of his supporters are oblivious to reality and try to cause unnecessary disruption by pushing” his political comeback, he added.

A spokesman for Johnson did not deny that he used the phrase “the party with the least social distance.” But he stressed that the former leader had “constantly worked” to ensure the government did everything possible to protect British lives and jobs during the pandemic.

(With information from AFP)

Keep reading:

Why Andrés will be stripped of his military titles but will remain PrinceThe investigation into “Partygate” includes social events at Boris Johnson’s residence

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