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Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson is a British politician - born on June 19, 1964 in New York. His paternal great-grandfather has said that he did not lie to Parliament about the illegal parties organized in Downing Street during the most severe restrictions against the spread of COVID-19.

The former prime minister of Great Britain said this at a hearing before a parliamentary committee dedicated to the scandal, which became known as "Partygate", which could cost him his political career, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.

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"I am here to tell you with my hand on my heart that I have not lied to the House of Commons (the lower house of the UK parliament)," Johnson told the parliamentary privilege committee.

"All my statements so far on this matter have been made honestly and in good faith, based on what I knew or thought I knew at the time," added the former landlord of 10 Downing Street.

The Privileges Commission is investigating whether Johnson, who was ousted from power in September, deliberately or recklessly misled Britain's lower house of parliament, the House of Commons, in a series of statements he made about the partying scandal.

If the commission considers that he has deliberately misled the parliament, his parliamentary seat can be forfeited.

In the event that it comes to that and the cash-out lasts more than ten days, a new election will have to be called for his seat in the constituency from which he was elected, as such are the rules of the majoritarian electoral system in Great Britain.

The former head of the executive branch, who last year even considered a bold new attempt to run for prime minister, said he was unaware the parties were in breach of lockdown rules and accused the parliamentary privilege committee of bias.

Partygate contributed to Johnson's fall from power after months of public reports that he and other senior government figures had attended boozy gatherings in Downing Street in 2020 and 2021, when the larger part of Britain was forced to stay at home because of the coronavirus.

The former prime minister was fined by police for attending a birthday party in June 2020, making him the first sitting prime minister to be found guilty of breaking the law.

The fallout from the scandal led to the mass resignation of his cabinet ministers, including current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and after them to the resignation of Johnson himself.

"Misleading the House may sound like a technical issue, but it's actually a very important issue," committee chair Harriet Harman said at the start of today's hearing.

She emphasized that truth-telling by ministers is a condition without which the British parliamentary system will not be able to function.

Before speaking at the hearing, Johnson had to swear with his hand on a Bible that he would tell the truth and nothing but the truth.

He pointed out that the investigation against him had not found any evidence that he had deliberately misled Parliament.

Johnson denied that it was "obvious" to him that he violated the rules and regulations of the lockdown.

"If it was obvious, he said, it would have been obvious to everyone else there, including the sitting prime minister," Johnson said, referring to Sunak.

"On the contrary, the evidence that you have collected, in its totality, indicates that these individuals believed that the rules had been followed," the ex-prime minister emphasized.

Earlier today, the Parliamentary Privileges Committee released a 110-page report containing evidence which some Downing Street officials said Johnson must have known such parties were being organised, even in cases where denies knowing.

Boris Johnson has provided 52 pages of evidence in his defense of 'Partygate'

One of the officials quoted said the former prime minister had the opportunity to "stop" these parties, but instead joined them, giving speeches and drinking alcohol with his subordinates.

At today's hearing, Johnson apologized if he had misled parliament about the parties, but stressed he had done so unwittingly.

"I apologize for unwittingly misleading the House," Johnson said.

"But to say that I did it deliberately or recklessly is completely false, as the evidence shows," he added.

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Boris Johnson