MPs have just voted 354 to 7 in favour of the Privileges Committee report’s finding that Boris Johnson deliberately misled parliament over partygate, and that he should be banned from having a former members’ pass.
At some points in this evening’s lengthy debate, it appeared that there wasn’t going to be a vote, and even when there was one, there were significant absences as the Commons is on a one-line whip. But in the end, a division was forced in order to flush out how many supporters Johnson still had who thought it was worth going over the top.
Johnson, meanwhile, is speaking at a dinner on democracy
Most of those who spoke in the chamber were supportive of the Privileges Committee – but not all. Jacob Rees-Mogg was, unsurprisingly, the most critical, particularly of committee chair Harriet Harman. Johnson’s ex-parliamentary aide Lia Nici railed against the report’s findings, saying there was no evidence that he had deliberately misled colleagues.
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