Page:Fifth Report - Matter referred on 21 April 2022 (conduct of Rt Hon Boris Johnson).pdf/73



What Mr Johnson was told by others, and what he told the House
19. The overall thrust of Mr Johnson’s evidence to the Committee has been to downplay the significance and narrow the scope of the assertions he made to the House. He has argued that (a) the assurances he referred to related only to one gathering, that on 18 December 2020, and were correct in relation to that gathering; (b) his assertions to the House relating to assurances about Covid compliance were only in respect of the Rules, not the Guidance; and (c) when he referred three times to having repeatedly been assured about compliance, by “repeatedly” he meant “on more than one occasion and by more than one person”. (Paragraph 180)

20. The problem with Mr Johnson’s attempts to portray his assertions to the House as narrow in scope is that this interpretation is directly at odds with the overall impression Members of the House, the media and the public received at the time from Mr Johnson’s responses at PMQs. The message which Mr Johnson clearly meant to convey was that Rules and Guidance at No. 10 had been complied with at all times. Indeed, Mr Johnson initially asserted that Guidance had been complied with when he had meant to say Rules, and rather than correcting what he now admits to have been an error, subsequently reiterated this assertion despite having been advised by his Principal Private Secretary not to make this claim. He was content to convey the impression that the events (plural) against which allegations had been made were in fact “non-events”, and, to paraphrase, that it was nonsense to suggest that the rule-makers at the heart of government were also rule-breakers. (Paragraph 181)

21. The impression the House would have taken, and we conclude, would have been intended to take, from Mr Johnson’s repeated references to assurances was that those assurances had been overarching and comprehensive, and to be given great weight. In fact, as we have seen, the only assurances that we can be certain were given to Mr Johnson were arrived at in haste based on a press “line to take”, were not subject to investigation before either session of PMQs, and did not emanate from senior permanent civil servants or government lawyers but from two media advisers and were based only on their personal recollections. Although Mr Johnson claimed several times to have been given the assurances “repeatedly”, in evidence to us he scaled down that claim by arguing that by “repeatedly” he had meant “on more than one occasion” (so possibly only twice). (Paragraph 182)

22. Mr Johnson’s attempt in his evidence to us to claim that his assertions at PMQs were narrow in scope amounts to ex post facto justification and was clearly not the message he intended to convey at the time. As an ex post facto justification, it is false. Mr Johnson’s failure to seek adequate assurances has also to be seen in the context of his direct personal experience of non-compliance with Covid Rules and Guidance at a series of gatherings which he attended or was aware of, as detailed earlier in this report. (Paragraph 183)

Misleading the House
23. Using the categories of misleading set out in paragraph 32 of the Fourth Report, we conclude that: