Boris Johnson has claimed a Tory MP sitting on the committee preparing to publish a report finding he misled Parliament with his partygate denials may have broken lockdown rules.
The former UK prime minister called for Sir Bernard Jenkin’s resignation from the Privileges Committee on the eve of the publication of its investigation into whether Mr Johnson lied to MPs.
The Guido Fawkes website reported that Mr Jenkins went to a drinks party held by Commons Deputy Speaker Dame Eleanor Laing in December 2020, while London was in Tier 2 measures restricting indoor mixing.
The allegation emerged as the cross-party committee Mr Jenkins sits on was preparing to publish on Thursday morning its damning report that Mr Johnson has already resigned as an MP over.
In a statement, Mr Johnson said: “Bernard Jenkin has just voted to expel me from Parliament for allegedly trying to conceal from Parliament my knowledge of illicit events.
“Now it turns out he may have for the whole time known that he himself attended an event – and concealed this from the Privileges Committee and the whole House for the last year.
“To borrow the language of the committee, if this is the case, he ‘must have known’ he was in breach of the rules.
“He has no choice but to explain his actions to his own committee, for his colleagues to investigate and then to resign.”
Mr Jenkins and a representative for Dame Eleanor have been contacted for comment.
Lord Peter Cruddas, a Tory donor who Mr Johnson elevated to the Lords, called for the police to investigate.
