Mehmet Solmaz
21 March 2023•Update: 21 March 2023
BIRMINGHAM, UK
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has accepted that he misled parliament by his statements that the COVID-19 rules and guidance had been followed completely in Downing Street.
In his 52-page defense submitted to the parliamentary committee, which was published on Tuesday, Johnson, however, said his statements were made "in good faith and on the basis of what I honestly knew and believed at the time."
The partygate was the name given to the scandal that saw dozens of parties held during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 at prime minister's office and government departments exposed in the press. At first, Johnson categorically denied the parties or his attendance to them.
"I did not intentionally or recklessly mislead the House on 1 December 2021, 8 December 2021, or on any other date. I would never have dreamed of doing so," he added.
Johnson said he relied on his advisers. "I was the prime minister of the country, working day and night to manage the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was self-evidently reasonable for me to rely on assurances that I received from my advisers."
The committee previously said it should have been obvious to Johnson that he was breaching the rules by attending or setting up parties during the lockdown. The committee is made up of seven MPs with four Conservatives, two from the main opposition Labour, and one Scottish National Party MP.
The former prime minister will face the committee on a televised questioning session on Wednesday.
Johnson was ousted by his own party MPs after admitting that he attended or held parties in which the rules were broken.
