Boris Johnson 'partygate' hearing: Ex-UK PM says 'hand on heart, I did not lie'

Former British prime minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday (March 22) remained defiant as he faced a parliament committee over the "partygate" scandal. The crunch grilling could certainly decide Johnson's political future as he swore an oath on the Bible to tell the "whole truth and nothing but the truth".

Harriet Harman, who is the chairwoman of the privileges committee, said that the MPs wanted to establish whether or not Johnson "told the truth to the best of his knowledge".

In the opening remarks, Johnson told the Privileges Committee that "hand on heart, I did not lie to the house" and added that the breach of lockdown legislation was done "in good faith and based on what I honestly believed at the time".

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Johnson argued that if rule-breaking was obvious, then other officials, including the current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak must also have seen it and it "must have been equally obvious".

He said that if it was really "obvious that they were going against the guidance", then the committee is not only accusing me of "lying" but also accusing all those civil servants and advisors.

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Johnson was ousted from 10, Downing Street last September and faced criticism over multiple incidents related to the handling of Covid when reports emerged of the Downing Street parties, which apparently took place when such gatherings were banned in the country.

The former UK PM defended the gathering as he said that he is "proud" to have given leadership during the pandemic and added that he was at the gatherings in question for only 10 or 15 minutes, "perhaps a maximum of 25" in just one case. Boris said, "I will believe until the day I die", it was his job to "thank the staff for their hard work".

He said, "I apologise, I apologise for inadvertently misleading this house, but to say I did it recklessly or deliberately is completely untrue, as the evidence shows."

Boris noted that he did not mean to breach the guidance and that staff members at No. 10 were following the guideline to the best of their ability, which was what the guidance provided. "And the guidance provides for freedoms within the practical framework of the operation, or the business, to decide how you’re going to implement the guidance," he said.

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Boris targets Dominic Cummings

Johnson said that Dominic Cummings had "every motive to lie", referring to the testimony of his former aide-turned-foe. The former PM also noted that what Cummings said was not supported by "documentary evidence".

Previously, Johnson said that the "only exception is the assertions of the discredited Dominic Cummings, which are not supported by any documentation."

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