Nadine Dorries has predicted her former boss Boris Johnson will be found guilty of misleading MPs over the Partygate scandal.
Speaking on her TalkTV show, the former culture secretary said Johnson is the victim of a “kangaroo court” in an outburst many people believe puts her in contempt of court.
She also predicted that handing Johnson a long enough suspension to trigger a by-election in his Uxbridge constituency would end his political career.
Privileges committee
Her comments come after the ex-PM’s fiery appearance in front of the privileges committee, which is investigating whether he misled parliament by insisting Covid rules were followed in Downing Street at all times.
Johnson has admitted he did mislead the Commons, but insisted his comments were made “in good faith” after being assured by his advisers that no parties had taken place.
An interim report by the committee earlier this month said it should have been “obvious” to him that lockdown rules were broken.
They are not expected to deliver their final verdict until after Easter.
Guilty
Pre-judging the outcome of the inquiry, Dorries said: “I don’t think there was ever a world in which this committee was going to find Boris innocent.
″The committee have demonstrated very clearly that they have decided early on to find him guilty.
″The committee knew that they had not a shred of evidence to prove that he misled with intent. They changed the rules, lowered the bar and inserted the vague term ‘reckless’ into the terms of reference.
″Boris Johnson will be found guilty by this kangaroo court. There is no doubt about that, and that in itself will be a disgraceful, and possibly unlawful, conclusion with serious reputational consequences.”
Dorries also said that imposing a suspension from parliament of at least 10 days, which would trigger a by-election in Johnson’s seat, would end his political career.
She said: “It is unthinkable that they would do so. But if a committee is willing to bend the rules and change the course of their investigation midway in order to find him guilty, would you put anything past that committee? I wouldn’t.”
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