Labour leader says PM should ‘show us where he stands’ ahead of vote on report into partygate
Good morning. This afternoon MPs will be debating a report saying that Boris Johnson lied to parliament about Partygate (“deliberately misled” is the way the report puts it, but it means the same thing), and that by doing so, and by attacking the subsequent inquiry, he committed serious and multiple contempts of parliament. There is no precedent for a parlimentary inquiry saying this as about former prime minister, and so you might expect the current prime minister to have a view on a conclusion this momentuous. But Rishi Sunak is not taking sides.
In an interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain broadcast this morning, he said that he respected the work done by the committee.
This committee was established under the former prime minister. It commanded the confidence of the house at the time and I’m sure that they have done their work thoroughly and I respect them for that.
This is a matter for the house rather than the government, that’s an important distinction and that is why I wouldn’t want to influence anyone in advance of that vote.
It will be up to each and every individual MP to make a decision of what they want to do when the time comes, it’s important the government doesn’t get involved in that because it is a matter for parliament and members as individuals, not as members as government.
Yes, I do. We need to know where Rishi Sunak stands on this.
He should show leadership, come along, get in the lobby and show us where he stands on this.
