“Partygate” affair: The accusation is a lie

British Prime Minister Johnson has so far refused to resign. But now a committee will investigate the affair about illegal celebrations during the Corona lockdown. It’s about the truth.

The Speaker of the House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle, had warned MPs right at the beginning of the session not to use the wrong language. Most of them stuck to that. Labor leader Keir Starmer first explained why a committee should investigate Boris Johnson’s “Partygate” comments: “It’s about honesty, integrity and speaking the truth in the House of Commons. That’s an important principle that we all agree with. But it’s a principle that’s being attacked.”

“If that is true …”

Labor and other opposition parties have accused Johnson of repeatedly lying to the House of Commons: “It’s a serious allegation because, if it’s true, it amounts to contempt for Parliament,” Starmer said.

Caroline Lucas of the Green Party has accused Johnson of undermining the foundations of democracy and has repeatedly accused Johnson’s behavior of destroying citizens’ trust in politics.

Scottish SNP group leader Ian Blackford called Johnson a liar, using a word not really allowed in the House of Commons: “At the heart of the scandal there is one thing that needs to be said: the UK Prime Minister is a liar .”

Accident or conscious deception?

At the beginning of the Partygate affair, Johnson had assured several times that there had been no parties and rule violations at 10 Downing Street during lockdown times. It has now been proven that this is not true. The question now is, did Johnson inadvertently say something false or deliberately mislead Parliament?

Numerous Conservative MPs defended Johnson. In the House of Commons he said the untruth, but not intentionally. In the meeting for which he was punished, he happened to be more of an accident and apologized for it umpteen times. In addition, other party leaders would have violated Corona rules at some point.

“The Show Is Over”

Unlike the conservative Steve Baker. He really built up an arc of suspense. He thanked the prime minister, visibly moved, for Brexit, for which Johnson deserved an entry in the history books. Baker then spoke religiously about forgiveness and mercy, finally making it clear that in Johnson’s case he could no longer forgive. He is sorry but the Prime Minister has gone against the word and the spirit of the word, Baker said in relation to the Corona regulations.

Then he continued: “The prime minister should have left a long time ago. He should know: the show is over.”

Johnson wants to continue

Whether that is actually true remains to be seen. The committee will need some time, especially since the investigation report from the police, which is investigating twelve parties in question, is also to be awaited.

Johnson himself announced that he does not want to resign but wants to lead the Tories into the next election.