Covid bereaved seek Johnson apology after Partygate report

We'll be closing our live coverage of the the Privileges Committee report into Boris Johnson shortly, here's a quick summary of the day's rather hectic series of events:

• The former prime minister was found to have deliberately misled Parliament in a report by fellow MPs
• The Privileges Committee recommended suspending Johnson from the House of Commons for 90 days over a "serious contempt" of Parliament
• He was also found to have been complicit in a "campaign of abuse" against the seven MPs investigating him
• Johnson attacked the report as a "political assassination", while his supporters have also been highly critical of the conclusions
• Families of people whose relatives died with Covid say have called on Johnson to apologise
• Opposition parties have gone after Johnson as well, calling on the government to make him pay for £245,000 of taxpayer-funded legal fees
• Two by-elections will be held on 20 July, one to replace Johnson in his former constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip
• The House of Commons will hold a vote over whether to endorse the report on Monday, with Tory MPs being given a free vote
• PM Rishi Sunak has not indicated how he will vote - or even if he will - with his spokesman telling reporters he wanted time to consider the findings of the report in full

Our colleagues at BBC London have been up in Boris Johnson's former North west London constituency talking to voters about today's report.

Many residents in Uxbridge and South Ruislip are standing by him, although others also spoke of their frustration and anger.

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Laura Cooper, who owns a shop on the high street, says she is "absolutely furious that he has been hounded out of Parliament".

"I am appalled at what the Conservatives are doing to their own former prime minister. It's like a witch hunt."

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Mirza Beig, a student in Uxbridge, disagrees, saying he just "does not care about it anymore".

"He's misled people and he's not reliable," he adds. "We need someone who will focus on helping constituents with real problems."

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In a somewhat unexpected intervention Sir Rod Stewart has given his thoughts on today's Westminster events, saying he is still "a bit of a fan" of Boris Johnson, despite the committee's findings.

Speaking to Sky News about the report and whether Mr Johnson will make a comeback, the singer, 78, said: "I was and still am a bit of a fan of Boris because I think he's got wonderful charisma.

"But you know, you knew what you were getting with Boris, so it's not unusual. He's told a few porkies over the years. So I'm not surprised.

"He's in big trouble now. But how is he going to make a comeback? I don't know. Maybe he should talk to me. I've been making comebacks for years."

We've been hearing wide variety of reaction to the Privileges Committee's findings today, across the political sphere.

This evening on Radio 4's PM programme one Labour MP said the report was important for the public, adding that people need to know that if a prime minister lies "there are consequences".

Thangam Debbonaire said Johnson treated the committee with a "lack of respect" and the sanctions were reflective of his actions last Friday.

Also speaking to the programme, Conservative MP Brendan Clarke-Smith offered the counter view and said he was disappointed with the report.

Referencing Johnson's birthday party, he said it did not resemble a party and was effectively a gathering in a place of work.

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We've just heard from Conservative MP Tim Loughton who has publicly revealed he thinks he will support the recommendations of the Privileges Committee.

He is among the first few Tory MPs to back the report's conclusions ahead of Monday's Common's vote.

The MP for East Worthing and Shoreham predicted this would probably be the feeling of the majority of Conservative MPs, apart from some Johnson loyalists and those who choose to abstain.

"I'd be really surprised if this doesn't go through very easily next week," he added.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s PM programme, Loughton said it was a "pretty tragic end" to Johnson's career, but he hopes the former prime minister goes quietly.

Rishi Sunak needs to be allowed the freedom and the space to get on with running the country, he added.

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Downing Street has already confirmed that Conservative MPs will be given a free vote on Monday when the Commons decides whether to approve the Privileges Committee's findings. It means Conservative Party whips won't tell MPs which way to vote.

Rishi Sunak hasn’t confirmed how he will be voting himself – or even if he will be voting at all. This afternoon, No 10 said he had yet to "fully consider" the committee's findings.

The vote presents a tricky set of choices for the prime minister, who in recent days has become embroiled in a bitter war of words with his former boss over Johnson's controversial resignation honours list.

Sunak will face pressure - from opposition parties but also from some within Tory circles - to endorse the findings from the cross-party committee.

He promised to put "integrity" at the heart of his government when he became PM last year, something regularly thrown back at him when scandals erupt.

But voting in favour of the report could enrage Johnson supporters within his own camp, opening up new fissures in the party.

Earlier, Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, a staunch ally of Boris Johnson, described the committee's report on the former PM as "fundamentally flawed".

You can listen below.

Monday's vote on whether or not to back the Privileges Committee's report on Boris Johnson is causing some Tory MPs a dilemma.

Endorse it and some could anger Conservative Party members who liked Johnson. Vote against it - and you risk alienating those who want him gone.

Why do party members and local Tory associations matter? Well, they have a say in who stands to be a Tory MP at the next election – and know the people MPs need to vote for them.

A few are telling me they might choose not to vote at all to keep their name out of it.

One former minister said: "I think I’m hovering between voting for the report and abstaining, the latter solely because voting for it will rile members."

Another former cabinet minister said that while they were “not a fan of his”, they thought the recommendation to not let him have a parliamentary pass again seemed to be “kicking him when he’s down".

They thought some colleagues’ approach to the vote on Monday was “why bother?” when they could instead go and campaign in Johnson’s old seat of Uxbridge ahead of the upcoming by-election.

Downing Street is yet to give any indication of where the prime minister plans to be.

Another former cabinet minister tells me they are planning to vote for the report on Monday, but in a sign of the febrile mood does not want to say so publicly yet in case "something happens" over the weekend.

It is a "one-line whip" on Monday, meaning Conservative MPs will not even be required to be in Parliament all day.

This gives a lot of them an excuse to abstain.

There are a handful of Conservative MPs who have publicly said they will vote against the report on Monday - in support of Johnson - but they are a minority.

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Staying in Scotland, Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader, has said he will support the recommendations of the Privileges Committee "because we as a Parliament asked them to do this job".

He is one of the first Conservative MPs to publicly confirm they will back the committee's recommendations in Monday's Commons vote.

Ross says he hasn't spoken to other colleagues about the report or the vote.

He also referenced what he called "stark evidence", including staff being warned to avoid cameras at Downing Street.

"My view could not be clearer - I will be supporting the recommendations of the Privilege's Committee in the House of Commons on Monday."

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Humza Yousaf has described the committees report as a "dark day in a dark chapter in Westminster's history".

"I am thinking, primarily and first and foremost, of all of those who lost a loved one during covid.

"Those who couldn't attend a funeral because of the restrictions in place during a funeral.

Yousaf added he thinks the Conservatives that voted him in need to vote to sanction Boris, "anything less will be a betrayal of the people they represent".

We know that MPs will hold a vote next Monday on whether to endorse the Privileges Committee’s findings.

If the committee’s recommendations are approved, Johnson will be denied the parliamentary pass he would normally be expected to receive as a former MP.

MPs will be able to table amendments to the motion – although it will be up to the Commons Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, to decide if they can be voted on.

It’s possible political parties will confirm over the weekend that they are seeking to add extra criticism or suggest further punishments.

Opposition parties have called for Boris Johnson to pay back the public money used to cover a £245,000 bill for his lawyers during the Partygate inquiry.

Labour's deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said the British public should not be made to pay for his legal bills because he "hasn't got a defence" and "he's bang to rights".

The Liberal Democrats and SNP also said the money should be recouped from the former PM.

Johnson's spokesperson has been contacted for a comment.

• Read more here

Conservative Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen has described the committee's report as a "distraction" from the real issues people want to see the govermment deal with, like stubbornly-high inflation.

He added: "I think a lot of people will see this as a stereotypical Westminster bubble story."

Houchen, an ally of Johnson's, received a peerage in the former PM's resignation honours list last week.

As we've seen throughout the day, allies of Johnson have been vocal in criticising the committee and its report, but we've heard little from current Conservative MPs endorsing the findings.

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The mayor of London has hit out at his predecessor, Boris Johnson, saying he was angered by the findings of the Privileges Committee's report.

Sadiq Khan said: "I’m angry on behalf of those people who couldn’t hug their loved ones or go to funerals for their loved ones or couldn’t celebrate important events because they were following the rules, yet this guy was breaking the rules,” he said.

Describing the former prime minister as a "coward" who "brought politics into disrepute", Khan said Johnson would rather resign than face the prospect of a by-election in his seat.

Khan says the committee's report only strengthens Labour's chances of claiming the Uxbridge and South Ruislip sleat.

The mayor of London also called on the prime minister to remove Johnson from the Conservative Party altogether.

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We now know that the by-elections caused by the resignations from Parliament of Boris Johnson and Nigel Adams will be held on 20 July.

Before either of them resigned, Nadine Dorries announced she was quitting as MP for Mid Bedfordshire "with immediate effect".

She later confirmed she was stepping down in protest at being denied a peerage in Johnson's resignation honours list - and blamed Rishi Sunak and No 10 for that.

However, Dorries has still to formally leave the Commons, meaning her seat is not yet vacant and no by-election to fill it can be arranged.

She has said she will not go until she gets more information on why she was denied a peerage.

If she keeps her party waiting for another week, that by-election could not be held on the same day as the other two - which is very much Conservative Party managers' preferred option.

Reaction to the Privileges Committee report's findings has, unsurprisingly, been coming in from all quarters. Here's a quick summary of what people have had to say about it so far:

• The bereaved families of those who died with Covid-19 have demanded Boris Johnson apologise after the report found he lied to parliament over gatherings in No 10
• Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner called Boris Johnson a "pound-shop Trump" and said he is "not only a law breaker but he's a liar"
• Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said Johnson had "treated the public with utter disdain",
• The SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn called for further sanctions against the ex-PM
• Downing Street declined to comment on the report, but has offered Tory MPs a free vote over whether to accept the report's findings on Monday
• Johnson's allies have been highly critical of the committee, including Jacob Rees-Mogg who called its findings "fundamentally flawed"
• Nadine Dorries said the report "overreached and revealed it’s true pre-determined intentions"

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Boris Johnson's latest departure from Parliament has a feeling of finality about it.

The last time he stood down as an MP, in 2008, it was in triumph. He had just been elected mayor of London, a job that would launch him on the path to Downing Street.

Now he is heading for the exit with all guns blazing, and a scathing attack on the MPs who sought to punish him for misleading Parliament over Covid rule-breaking.

His reaction to the Privileges Committee report is vintage Johnson - colourful, amusing in parts, with references to "Mystic Meg" and nudist colonies - but with an unfamiliar edge of bitterness and anger.

Whether it turns out to be the final raging testament of a man destined for the political wilderness remains to be seen.

Final curtain? Read the full profile here.