'Spiteful' Partygate report leaves Tories fuming: Party faces revolt over ... trends now

Tories erupted in fury last night after the Partygate inquiry called for Boris Johnson to be banished from Parliament.

The Commons privileges committee accused him of 'deliberately misleading' MPs when he said lockdown gatherings at No 10 did not breach Covid rules.

Led by Labour's ex-deputy leader Harriet Harman, the committee said his conduct was so serious he would have faced a 90-day suspension had he remained an MP. And in a highly unusual move, it called for Mr Johnson to be permanently denied the Commons pass offered to all former MPs, effectively barring him from the parliamentary estate.

The committee also warned it could act against any politicians – including Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg – who called it a 'kangaroo court'.

Mr Johnson branded the panel's conclusions 'deranged'; his allies said the committee had been 'spiteful' and 'vindictive'.

The fallout from the report may trigger a fresh round of Tory bloodletting that upsets Rishi Sunak's efforts to restore calm to the party ahead of an election expected next year. Nadine Dorries warned that Conservative MPs could even face deselection by angry local parties if they back the committee's findings in a Commons vote on Monday night.

'Any Conservative MP who would vote for this report is fundamentally not a Conservative and will be held to account by members and the public,' she said. 'Deselections may follow.'

The Conservative Democratic Organisation said it had been inundated with messages from activists. Its chairman, former MEP David Campbell-Bannerman, said: 'This is just the latest part of an anti-democratic attempt to destroy Boris Johnson. If Conservative MPs choose to endorse it then they should pay a price.

'We have been inundated with calls from party members complaining of a stitch-up. We are happy to assist them if they want advice and help in getting rid of an MP.'

Neil McCafferty, leader of the Boston Conservatives branch in Lincolnshire, said: 'The way the privileges committee has treated him is absolutely ridiculous and obscene.

'A 90-day suspension – that's totally silly and a complete over-reaction. You can see that the whole thing's political contrived and biased.'

Foreign Office minister Zac Goldsmith described the sanctions against Mr Johnson, which far outstrip the ten-day suspension needed to trigger a by-election, as 'obviously ridiculous and vindictive'.

But Commons leader Penny Mordaunt said the privileges committee members were 'doing their duty' and warned activists against trying to influence Monday's vote by MPs.

Allies of Mr Johnson believe the 'extreme' findings of the report could make him a Tory 'martyr' and pave the way to a return one day. But he is not expected to return to Parliament before the next election.

In a boost for the former PM, rock star Rod Stewart said he was 'still a bit of a fan', adding: 'Maybe he should talk to me. I've been making comebacks for years.'

Mr Johnson said the committee had 'found not a shred of evidence' and it was 'complete tripe' to suggest he knew rules were being broken.

'This report is a charade,' he said. 'I was wrong to believe in the committee or its good faith. The terrible truth is that it is not I who has twisted the truth to suit my purposes. It is Harriet Harman and her committee.'

He denied treating Parliament with contempt and said the 'anti-democratic' report was designed to be 'the final knife-thrust in a protracted political assassination'.

'It is for the people of this country to decide who sits in parliament, not Harriet Harman,' he insisted.

Mr Johnson accused the committee of 'rank hypocrisy', noting that senior member Sir Bernard Jenkin was reported to have attended a lockdown drinks party for his wife's birthday.

Yesterday's report followed a 14-month investigation by the seven-strong privileges committee, which Mr Johnson has branded a 'witch-hunt'.

The committee concluded that he deliberately misled MPs when he repeatedly told the Commons that lockdown gatherings in Downing Street had been within the rules.

The MPs even visited Downing Street to measure the rooms to take a view on whether social distancing could have been maintained. They concluded that, 'on the balance of probabilities', Mr Johnson could not have genuinely believed that all rules and guidance were being followed.

'We find it highly unlikely that Mr Johnson, having given any reflection to these matters, could himself have believed the assertions he made to the House at the time when he was making them, still less that he could continue to believe them to this day,' the report said.

The committee said Mr Johnson's guilt was compounded last week when he announced he was standing down as an MP after being sent the committee's draft conclusions.

The report said his angry 1,000-word statement, in which he branded the committee a 'kangaroo court', amounted to another 'very serious contempt' of Parliament.

The 90-day suspension is three times the punishment meted out to former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier, who was found to have travelled long distance while suffering from Covid.

Mr Johnson's decision to stand down as an MP means the suspension will not apply.

But he will be affected the removal of his parliamentary pass – a punishment previously inflicted on former Commons speaker John Bercow over bullying allegations. If approved he will be able to enter the parliamentary estate only as a guest after queuing up with the public and going through airport-style security.

Allies of Mr Johnson said they would vote against the report on Monday but conceded they did not have the numbers to defeat it.

Sir Jacob said: 'Inevitably Boris will lose the vote because you have the whole of the Opposition against him ... but you also have the Boris haters in the Conservative Party.'

Former minister Brendan Clarke-Smith described the report's findings as 'spiteful, vindictive and overreaching' and said he would vote against.

Former home secretary Priti Patel said it was 'not surprising' that some were trying to 'discredit' Mr Johnson given his 'record and achievements'.

Sir Simon Clarke said: 'I believed Boris before and I believe him today. This punishment is absolutely extraordinary to the point of sheer vindictiveness.'

But his fellow Tory MPs urged Mr Johnson to go quietly and avoid further disruption.

Former minister Tim Loughton said: 'It is a tragic end to Boris Johnson's career, but it is the end of his career and we should draw a line under it.'

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross backed the committee's findings, saying: 'Any MP found to have deliberately misled Parliament is guilty of a grave incident and for a former prime minister that is

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