Eight allies of disgraced Boris Johnson who made "sustained" attempts to undermine the Partygate probe have been named and shamed in a scathing report.
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, Nadine Dorries and Dame Priti Patel are among the Tory MPs and peers who tried to "undermine" the Privileges Committee, leaving members fearful for their safety.
A bombshell document published this morning also identified Sir Michael Fabricant, Brendan Clarke-Smith, Dame Andrea Jenkyns, Lord Zac Goldsmith and Mark Jenkinson.
It said that "pressure" was applied to committee members investigating Mr Johnson's Partygate lies - and MPs were urged to consider whether any punishment should be dished out.
Their behaviour had a "significant personal impact" on those carrying out the probe, raising "significant security concerns", the damning report said.
It is the latest uncomfortable ruling as Parliament grapples to free itself of Mr Johnson's toxic legacy, and piles pressure on Rishi Sunak to act.
He faces calls to sack Lord Goldsmith from his Government role.
The report said: "Pressure was applied particularly to Conservative members of the Committee.
"This had the clear intention to drive those members off the Committee and so to frustrate the intention of the House that the inquiry should be carried out, or to prevent the inquiry coming to a conclusion which the critics did not want.
"There were also sustained attempts to undermine and challenge the impartiality of the Chair, who had been appointed to the Committee by unanimous decision of the House."
In a no-holds-barred indictment of their conduct, the report continued: "Those Members did not choose to engage through any proper process such as the submission of letters or evidence to our inquiry, but by attacking the members of the committee, in order to influence their judgment."
Addressing the possibility that the eight could be punished, the committee said: "It will be for the House to consider what further action, if any, to take in respect of Members of the House referred to in this special report."
MPs were told committee members had been subjected to abuse and attempted intimidation - and warned that failing to challenge this behaviour would have a chilling impact on future misconduct investigations.
Earlier this month the committee recommended a massive 90 day suspension after finding Mr Johnson had committed five contempts of Parliament - but he quit before the punishment could be imposed.
The committee - made up of four Tories, two Labour and one SNP MP - ruled on June 15 that Mr Johnson had been “complicit in the campaign of abuse and attempted intimidation”.
Tory committee members were inundated with emails from more than 600 people branding the committee investigation “deeply flawed, biased and unfair” and urging them to withdraw, the report said.
Sulking Mr Johnson ran for the hills and quit as an MP with immediate effect, rather than face his punishment, voicing his anger at committee members.
During the investigation, today's report says, several Tory supporters made statements and posted on social media in an effort to influence the committee.
These include Sir Jacob, who was knighted in Mr Johnson's resignation honours, who told the BBC in March: “I think it makes kangaroo courts look respectable.”
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Ms Dorries, meanwhile, called the probe a "Kafkaesque witchhunt", while Dame Priti - who was also on Mr Johnson's honours list - lashed out at a "culture of collusion".
Dame Andrea - another on Mr Johnson's honours list - also dubbed the probe a "kangaroo court" in a tweet, while Mr Clarke-Smith called it a "witch-hunt which would put a banana republic to shame".
Earlier this month Mr Jenkinson wrote on Twitter: “When the witch hunt has been forgotten, future generations will lookback in astonishment.”
Thangam Debbonaire, Labour's Shadow Leader of the House of Commons, said: “Rishi Sunak has allowed senior members of his own party to undermine and attack Britain’s democratic institutions. This includes a serving government minister and two former Cabinet ministers.
“It’s yet another example of the Prime Minister’s weakness and failure to hold his own ministers to high standards that Zac Goldsmith is still a government minister.
“It’s time Rishi Sunak condemned his Conservative colleagues who have sought to override Parliament’s standards system to get one of their own off the hook. He must accept the committee's damming conclusions and make time for MPs to approve the report in full.
“While Rishi Sunak focuses on keeping the Boris Johnson sycophants in his own party happy, people up and down the country are left facing the cost of the Tory mortgage penalty and soaring rents. Keir Starmer will restore trust in politics, show leadership on the issues that matter to working people and act immediately to bring down the cost of living.”
After the report was published, Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said it appeared to be a "gongs for cronies scandal".
She said: ““Rishi Sunak has shown himself to be totally spineless so far on this issue. He refused to block Boris Johnson’s honours list, failed to vote for the Partygate report and his promise of integrity has been left in tatters.
“The least he can do now is order an investigation into whether any collusion took place between Johnson and these MPs, and commit to revoking their honours if it did.”
And Dick Newby, Liberal Democrat leader in the House of Lords, said Mr Sunak must sack Lord Goldsmith as Minister of State for Overseas Territories, Commonwealth, Energy, Climate and Environment.
He said: “This report was already damning enough but to now see a serving government minister named as interfering with the reports findings is truly shocking.
“It is only right that Sunak sacks Zac Goldsmith from his role as Government minister if he wants to show any shred of integrity.
“The Conservative party is so wrapped up in dealing with sleaze and chaos that they are failing to tackle the real issues that matter to the British people.”
But MPs named in the report have hit back. Sir Michael said: "I stand by my statement. Some of the members of the Privileges Committee treated their witness, Boris Johnson, with contempt by gestures and other actions.
"Had it been in a law court, the judge would have called them to order. Respect for the committee needs to be earned."
And Mr Clarke-Smith fumed: "This raises serious questions about free speech in a democratic society and my colleagues and I will continue to defend these principles going forward."
Alongside the damning ruling against the disgraced former PM, the committee announced it would be writing a special report into attempts to undermine the committee's work.
Publishing its findings earlier this month, the committee announced it would produce the special report into a "sustained" and "seemingly co-ordinated" attempt to undermine its work.
Its previous findings said: "Each member has done their duty on behalf of the House.
"Despite this,from the outset of this inquiry there has been a sustained attempt, seemingly co-ordinated,to undermine the Committee’s credibility and, more worryingly, that of those Members serving on it.
"The Committee is concerned that if these behaviours go unchallenged, itwill be impossible for the House to establish such a Committee to conduct sensitive and important inquiries in the future."
What was Mr Johnson ruled to have done?
In the report on June 15, the Privileges Committee imposed a 90 day suspension after ruling he was guilty of:
- Deliberately misleading the House
- Deliberately misleading the Committee
- Breaching confidence
- Impugning the Committee and thereby undermining the democratic process of the House
- Being complicit in the campaign of abuse and attempted intimidation of the Committee
He was stripped of his Parliamentary pass - which is normally given to MPs after they leave Parliament.
