Harriet Harman has revealed the Government provided her with assurances that she would not be perceived as biased when making judgments regarding Boris Johnson.
The Labour veteran and chairwoman of the Privileges Committee made the revelation after Conservative former cabinet minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg asked her about her “famous tweets” and whether she believed she met the Hoffmann test — an assessment of impartiality.
Ms Harman’s suitability has been repeatedly questioned by Mr Johnson and his loyalists over an April 2022 tweet, in which she suggested that by accepting a fine for breaking Covid rules the former prime minister was also admitting to misleading the House.
Responding to Sir Jacob, the Camberwell and Peckham MP acknowledged that the spotlight on her tweets had raised concerns about the perceived fairness of the committee’s proceedings, but said she took it upon herself to investigate whether the Government would lack confidence in her chairmanship if she continued in the role.
The exchange took place during a Commons debate on the Privileges Committee’s report, which found that Mr Johnson misled the Commons, and the committee, and that this amounted to contempt of Parliament.
During her speech, Ms Harman also said that if left “unchecked”, the ex-PM’s “dishonesty” would have “contaminated the whole of Government”.
After referencing a precedent regarding the perception of bias in a House of Lords committee, Sir Jacob asked Ms Harman: “In relation to her famous tweets, how does she think she met the Hoffmann test?”
Mic drop
She replied: “I was appointed by this House in the expectation that I would chair the committee with no-one speaking against it.
“After the tweets were brought to light, they were highlighted, because I am concerned about the perception of fairness of the committee and I agree that perception matters, I made it my business to find out whether or not it would mean that the Government would not have confidence in me if I continued to chair the committee.
“I actually said I am more than happy to step aside because perception matters and I don’t want to do this if the Government doesn’t have confidence in me, because I need the whole House to have confidence in the work that the committee has mandated.
“I was assured that I should continue the work that the House had mandated with the appointment that the House had put me into and so I did just that.”
A Labour MP could be heard exclaiming: “Oh dear. I think that’s a mic drop. I think that’s a mic drop, Jacob Rees-Mogg.”
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