Fury over Boris Johnson police 'stitch-up': Allies could refuse to co-operate ... trends now

View
comments

Boris Johnson was on the brink of war with the Government today after it secretly told MPs he might have broken lockdown rules during stays at Chequers.

Allies of the former prime minister said that MPs loyal to him could adopt a policy of 'non-co-operation' with the Government over its attempt to 'stitch him up'.

Mr Johnson today sacked his government lawyers after discovering they passed information without his knowledge to the police and MPs investigating the Partygate row.

Diary entries relating to his stays at Chequers during the pandemic supposedly raised concerns that events at the grace-and-favour mansion might have broken Covid rules in place at the time – a claim strongly denied by Mr Johnson.

Downing Street today denied that ministers had been involved in a 'stitch up' designed to hobble the former PM.

In a statement, the Cabinet Office said it had 'not made any assessment or conducted any investigation of the material that has been passed to the police. Ministers played no role in deciding whether the information should be handed over to the police.'

But the Daily Mail can reveal that government lawyers did assess the material, telling MPs on the Commons privileges committee – which is investigating Mr Johnson over allegations he misled MPs about Partygate – that it suggested rules may have been broken.

In a letter to Mr Johnson, seen by the Mail, the committee said: 'The Government has told us that: As part of their work preparing Boris Johnson's witness statement for the Covid Inquiry, the counsel team supporting Mr Johnson identified a

read more from dailymail.....