Cabinet minister Michael Gove has said he will not vote for the report which found Boris Johnson lied to MPs over partygate because he believes its recommendation of a 90-day suspension was “not merited”.
The Levelling Up Secretary confirmed he would abstain from casting a ballot over the Privileges Committee’s findings that the former prime minister committed “repeated contempts” of Parliament.
He refused to be drawn on whether he believed the Prime Minister should turn up to support the conclusions of the report, claiming it is a matter for “each individual” Member of Parliament to decide themselves.
However, former Conservative minister Justine Greening urged MPs to “get behind” the committee’s work and recognise that political leaders cannot be “allowed to get away with” misleading the Commons.
The report recommended that Mr Johnson should have faced a 90-day suspension had he not already resigned in advance of its judgment.
Though he cannot now serve that penalty, the cross-party group of MPs chaired by Labour’s Harriet Harman also recommended that he should be banned from holding a pass to access Parliament following a series of offences.
Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show, he said: “I dont agree with the conclusion, however, personally… The decision to impose a 90-day penalty is not merited by the evidence that the committee has put forward.”
If the report is not opposed then it could just be nodded through the Commons, saving Mr Sunak from having to chose between further riling Mr Johnson by backing it, voting against the report and risking public anger, or avoiding the action altogether and facing allegations of being weak.
The sanctions proposed by the Tory-majority committee are expected to pass regardless, with only a relatively small group of Johnson loyalists expected to oppose the report’s findings.
Mr Johnson was privately urging his supporters not to oppose it, arguing the sanctions have no practical effect.
Former Conservative minister Justine Greening said it was important for the public to see that “due process has been followed” and MPs are actively supporting its outcome.
“I think it would be easier to persuade the public that we’ve moved on from it if MPs simply went into the House of Commons on Monday and supported the Privileges Committee report,” she said.
“I think people are in Parliament to take votes and I think they should be decisive about supporting the Privileges Committee’s work. Essentially, it’s important to recognise that MPs, and especially prime ministers, cannot mislead Parliament and be allowed to get away with that.”
