LONDON − Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson deliberately misled Parliament over what he knew about alcohol-fueled parties at his office when COVID infections were skyrocketing and the whole country was under a strict lockdown.

That’s the conclusion of a 30,000-word report published Thursday by seven lawmakers from the House of Commons’ so-called privileges committee, which investigates alleged parliamentary wrongdoing.

The report said Johnson’s “conduct was deliberate, that he committed “a serious contempt of the House” and that he did so on an issue of “greatest importance to the House and to the public, and did so repeatedly.”

Boris Johnson lied to Parliament. Now what?

The inquiry into Johnson’s behavior is damning but has no legal consequences. If he were still a lawmaker he could have faced a 90-day suspension. But he’s not, so it’s academic. Johnson resigned ahead of the report’s release claiming there was a “witch-hunt under way, to take revenge for Brexit and ultimately to reverse the 2016 referendum result,” references to Britain’s controversial vote to leave the European Union, which he backed.