Boris Johnson news – live: Labour denies Sue Gray appointment a ‘distraction’ from Partygate inquiry

Boris Johnson has denied being guilty of lying to MPs and says he believes the inquiry will vindicate him.

He said: “What is so interesting about the report today is that after 10 months of efforts and sifting through all the innumerable WhatsApps and messages, they found absolutely no evidence to suggest otherwise.

“There’s absolutely nothing to show that any adviser of mine or civil servant warned me in advance that events might be against the rules, nothing to say that afterwards they thought it was against the rules, nothing to show that I myself believed or was worried that something was against the rules.

“That for me is a pretty astonishing gap given the huge amount of stuff that they have.

“Frankly not all the testimony they have comes from people who are necessarily on my side.”

The former prime minister added: “I believe that what we were doing was in conformity with the Covid regulations, that is why I said what I said in Parliament, and that’s why I’m certain there’s been no contempt.”

The Privileges Committee has the power to recommend that an MP is found to have committed a contempt, and sanctions can include oral or written apologies; suspension from the House of Commons for a specified period, or even expulsion.

A by-election would be sensational, and his fate lies in the hands of fellow MPs and possibly voters, writes Sean O’Grady:

Boris Johnson said it was “concerning” that the inquiry into whether he lied to MPs will rely on evidence by partygate investigator Sue Gray as she will be working for Labour.

But the Privileges Committee defended its probe, saying it was not based on the Sue Gray report, which last year detailed lockdown-breaking, booze-fuelled parties in Downing Street during Mr Johnson‘s leadership.

The former prime minister and his allies have used Ms Gray’s planned move to Sir Keir Starmer’s office to try to discredit the cross-party panel’s inquiry into whether he lied to the House of Commons over lockdown breaches.

In a statement, Mr Johnson said: “It is surreal to discover that the committee proposes to rely on evidence culled and orchestrated by Sue Gray, who has just been appointed chief of staff to the leader of the Labour Party.

“This is particularly concerning given that the committee says it is proposing to rely on ‘the findings in the second permanent secretary’s report’ as ‘relevant facts which the committee will take into account’.

“I leave it to others to decide how much confidence may now be placed in her inquiry and in the reports that she produced.”

However, the committee rejected the claims, saying its inquiry was based on evidence including witnesses, WhatsApps, emails and images from a Downing Street photographer.

Nadine Dorries has suggested the damning report by top civil servant Sue Gray on No 10 parties was unreliable after Ms Gray accepted a senior job with the Labour party.

“Sue Gray’s evidence cannot be relied upon in any meaningful way until we know how long Sue Gray has had a personal relationship with Keir Starmer and for how long they have been discussing Sue going to work for him as his most trusted and important adviser” the former minister told Radio 4.

She said there was more to be uncovered, as she cast doubt on the “validity” of Ms Gray’s report.

This tells us more about who Sue Gray is:

Staunch Boris Johnson ally Nadine Dorries has accused Sue Gray – whom Mr Johnson appointed as investigator – of having “deep political motivations” in writing her Partygate report.

“I don’t think her report is worthy of the paper it’s written on because obviously it’s written by someone who’s patently broken the civil service code and had deep political motivations,” the former culture secretary said.

She suggested Ms Gray could have been having conversations with both Keir Starmer and Labour while writing her report.

“It has just blown the whole thing up,” Ms Dorries told Radio 4’s The World at One.

She said there was more to be uncovered, as she cast doubt on the “validity” of Ms Gray’s report.

In her report, the senior civil servant said top officials, including Boris Johnson “must bear responsibility” for a Downing Street culture in which parties were held in defiance of lockdown rules, when staff drank so much they were sick, sang karaoke, became involved in fights and abused security and cleaning staff.

She said the public would be “dismayed” by a series of breaches of Covid regulations in No 10.

This is what Angela Rayner was referring to in saying “Rishi Sunak must stop propping up this disgraced PM and his legal defence fund”.

Taxpayers are footing a bill of at least £222,000 for Mr Johnson’s legal fees in the inquiry.

The Cabinet Office permanent secretary said it was “normal” for the government to pay the legal fees of former ministers when an inquiry related to their ministerial conduct:

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner said the interim report could spell the end of Boris Johnson’s career.

She tweeted: “This partygate report is damning on Boris Johnson‘s conduct, not just in the crime but the cover-up.

“Rishi Sunak must stop propping up this disgraced PM and his legal defence fund - and make clear that if he is found to have repeatedly misled Parliament his career is over.”

The new Partygate report was revealed as Conservatives were reeling from news that Sue Gray, the civil servant who investigated the scandal, is to be appointed chief of staff to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer – a move they said showed her inquiry was “a stitch-up”:

Boris Johnson could also see a notorious gathering point for Downing Street parties during lockdown from the bottom of the stairs leading up to his flat, the new report reveals.

MPs investigating whether the former prime minister lied to parliament have released the document:

Boris Johnson’s communications chief admitted there was a “great gaping hole” in the prime minister’s account of partygate, messages show.

The aide wrote last January, in relation to a June 2020 gathering: “I’m struggling to come up with a way this one is in the rules in my head”, the new report by the parliamentary inquiry into whether he lied to parliament reveals: