The problem with parliament’s partygate inquiry

Boris Johnson has recently employed the services of the lawyer Lord Pannick, who has given his legal opinion on a House of Commons investigation into Boris Johnson’s partygate comments.

The advice has been published here by the government. It seems to have cost £129,000, which is not expensive, believe it or not, by market rates for someone as eminent as Lord Pannick.

To recap – parliament is proposing to put Boris on trial for the offence of misleading the House. The wrong complained of is when Boris told the House that ‘no Covid rules were broken’ and that the ‘guidance was followed and the rules were followed at all times.’ In other words, that no Downing street parties occurred. The Met police disagreed with Boris (although, I didn’t and don’t). And if the Met are right then Boris made an error of law. The Committee of Privileges is investigating though whether a mistake can ever be a lie, and has said that it does not need to prove that Boris intended to lie to find that contempt was committed in the House.