June 9 (UPI) — Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resigned as a member of Parliament after receiving a pre-publication copy of a Privileges Committee report evaluating if he mislead Parliament about gatherings he held at Downing Street during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Johnson insisted that the gatherings were justified because they were “essential” work events.
“They have still not produced a shred of evidence that I knowingly or recklessly misled the Commons,” Johnson said in a statement Friday. Johnson said the report was “riddled with inaccuracies and reeks of prejudice.”
Johnson was accused of misleading Parliament about the scandal that became known as “Partygate.” Though he admits what he told MPs was misleading, Johnson insists he believed he was being truthful.
“They know perfectly well that when I spoke in the Commons I was saying what I believed sincerely to be true and what I had been briefed to say, like any other minister,” Johnson said.
“It is very sad to be leaving Parliament — at least for now — but above all I am bewildered and appalled that I can be forced out, anti-democratically,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the committee investigation was a pretext “to take revenge for Brexit and ultimately to reverse the 2016 referendum result.”
Johnson called the committee a “kangaroo court” and insisted “current prime minister and then-occupant of the same building, Rishi Sunak,” believed them to be “working together lawfully.”
Johnson ostensibly took another shot at the current prime minister in his statement.
“When I left office last year, the government was only a handful of points behind in the polls. That gap has now massively widened,” Johnson said.
“Just a few years after winning the biggest majority in almost half a century, that majority is now clearly at risk. Our party needs urgently to recapture its sense of momentum and its belief in what this country can do,” Johnson continued.