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Partygate, Boris Johnson defends himself: "I never lied to Parliament"

The former British prime minister has rejected allegations of breaches of anti-Covid restrictions that took place in Downing Street during the pandemic, saying he never malied intentionally

22/03/2023

"I say it with my hand on my heart: I didn't lie in the House of Commons." Boris Johnson said this in his initial statement before the bipartisan Westminster committee, known as the Privileges Committee, which is conducting an inquiry into whether the current Tory MP "misled" MPs with his statements about the Partygate scandal when he was prime minister. The hearing, decisive for Johnson's political career, was interrupted after a few minutes to allow the Commons to vote on the Windsor Framework, the agreement to amend the post-Brexit protocol on Northern Ireland.

The Partygate case concerns parties held at the Prime Minister's residence in London's Downing Street between May 2020 and April 2021. The parties were made in violation of the restrictions introduced by the Government itself to combat the Coronavirus pandemic, and when they were discovered they created a major scandal in British politics and among the population.

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson admitted to telling Parliament things that turned out to be untrue but firmly maintains that he never lied intentionally.

The former premier told the committee that the parties were wrong and that he "regrets it bitterly". Johnson acknowledged that his insistence that the rules were followed at all times turned out to be false, but says he never "knowingly or recklessly" misled Parliament.