This is about him lying over them, which is the greatest sin in Parliament. Had he just owned up, he wouldn't be up before the committee.
Interesting that this is coming from his former employers. Assassination piece by the Telegraph. And paywall is down for this article.Knives are out.https://t.co/UokZRwb4Js— Ina (@thatcymraes) March 21, 2023 Some great lines:
I must admit, although people have said that the reputation of British democracy has taken a battering recently over the actions of Boris Johnson, the tories and other matters, the fact that a proven liar and degenerate is being hauled over the coals in this way shows that, in some ways, it still works quite well. Hopefully donny tiny hands will suffer similar treatment in the not too distant future
Also, I love his defence that the fact he's been caught just PROVES he's innocent. Maybe my dad's old mate that got a 12 stretch for armed robbery should have tried that as well
Any Americans watching this hearing and not understanding why it's so cringeworthy, remember: British people would rather saw their own arms off than confront each other. I'm surprised the MPs aren't just looking down and tutting.
Only following it on the Guardian and Twitter, but this isn't a good thing Johnson accidentally names two officials whose identities the committee had promised to protect. Clerks shake their heads and he apologises.— Paul Brand (@PaulBrandITV) March 22, 2023
Even Desperate Dan can see through the bluster. Boris has literally just changed his story. He’s now saying no senior officials told him the rules had been broken. Before his line was lots of senior advisors had assured him the rules had been followed.— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) March 22, 2023
He just can't help himself Johnson told the C'tee TWICE that the byob garden party was to boost staff's morale, because the Cabinet Secretary resigned that day.Only problem is that Mark Sedwill did not resign until over a month later.I'm sure he is just innocently misremembering everything. Again. ~AA pic.twitter.com/GI8B3mJolh— Best for Britain (@BestForBritain) March 22, 2023
The thing about being a liar is, you HAVE to have a good memory. The truth is often easier to recall precisely because it IS the truth.
Essentially, when faced with the choice of saying, A) He's too stupid to have understood the rules he, himself, wrote or, B) He lied about following them, he decided to go for option 'A'.
He doesn't half get tetchy when his bluff has been called. Lord Pannick's face when his client starts shouting at the Privileges Committee... pic.twitter.com/FEUsnysElB— Adam Schwarz (@AdamJSchwarz) March 22, 2023
It seems the grauniad's John Crace agrees... Impervious to advice or rules, Johnson held up the shield of stupidity ... Then Johnson took the oath on the King James bible. Amazingly the bible survived contact with Boris’s hand. I guess it must have come across many liars in its time. That done, Johnson went off on a rant, only to be interrupted by a division bell reminding him to vote against Rishi Sunak’s Windsor Framework. On his return, he mounted the first outline of his defence. He was too stupid to lie. If he had a fault it was that he was too honest. There again he might also be too stupid to stop himself lying. After all, if everyone knows you’re lying then no one is being misled. Boris warmed to his stupidity theme. He genuinely believed that no rules had been broken because no one had told him any rules were being broken. He wasn’t responsible for his own actions. Besides which, he had no idea what the rules and guidance were because he hadn’t yet worked out who had been prime minister at the time. It's been a pretty remarkable day all in all.
An interesting perspective from Katy Balls who's a right of centre journo, (at least, not a headbanger), who gives the centrist tory view here I think... Is this the last hurrah for the Boris Johnson circus? Even Tory MPs really hope so But there’s another reason Johnson’s appearance in the Grimond Room is unlikely to have changed many minds: a lot of Tory MPs didn’t even bother to tune in. “I didn’t watch it,” said one member of the 2019 intake. “I don’t need to be reminded of that episode.” “God, no,” was another MP’s reaction on being asked whether they had tuned in. Speaking to MPs after the session, it’s a common refrain and testament to how Johnson’s power in the Tory party appears to be on the wane. Worn down by last year’s psychodrama, rather than look on the investigation with high-stakes excitement, most would just like to pretend it’s not happening. That last bit was certainly the approach from the tory guy on tonight's BBC 'Question Time'. When asked if this was the end of Boris Johnson he pretended he hadn't heard the question and, when he DID address it, it was very much a matter of, 'We've all moved past that and we're concentrating on the business of running the country'. If he'd have asked them all to vote against another leader's bill a year or so back they would have been lined up around the block. As it was he managed to get barely 20 and the bulk of THEM were the diehard headbanger brigade. I'd suggest there were only a handful of people who were swayed by anything he said... if that. “Boris has become Rishi’s dead cat,” one MP jokes – in reference to the Lynton Crosby tactic of a shocking announcement diverting attention from the story you don’t want people to talk about. But it’s more than that – some in government are keen to show that Sunak is not scared of his predecessor. It’s no coincidence that the vote on the Windsor framework was held on a day Johnson had to be in parliament – meaning Johnson could not conveniently be away and miss the vote. It forced the former prime minister to put his money where his mouth was and vote against the deal. “Sunak is facing down his critics,” says a government adviser. I don't think that would have gone down well either... Johnson appearing to 'stab his predecessor in the back', (as the tory attack line always goes... they love themselves a bit of backstabbing, the old tories). I'd be surprised if she's right about this though... Despite the state of the polls, there are some Tory MPs who believe Johnson could turn a byelection to his advantage. “He would win the byelection,” insists one MP, who backed Sunak in the last leadership contest. “Boris has big star power – and the party would be forced to pump money in.” As well as resources, the cabinet would be under pressure to put time into fighting it. If it was a tory vs labour, (or LibDems), in a GE it might be safe tory seat but if it's JUST about Johnson vs. someone else, he might be struggling to win it in these circumstances and the number of cabinet ministers who wanted to be associated with him, (and possibly risk their own ministerial futures under Sunak?), might be severely limited, particularly if it's happening because of him being found guilty of lying to parliament, not to mention him lying to the public.
This is damning. His supporters argue he's an electoral asset. The end of Boris Johnson pic.twitter.com/oHXcssb8Tu— Best for Britain (@BestForBritain) March 23, 2023
The opposition parties should all stand down in favour of a Martin Bell style, neutral "honesty" condidate. Make it all about Johnson and not anyone or anything else. He's a cancer to both the Tory party and Parliament itself. The same if he stands again anywhere.
This looks Photoshopped. 🚨 | NEW: Rishi Sunak (5’7) meets Albanian PM Edi Rama (6’7) pic.twitter.com/iwn3Q164Y5— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) March 23, 2023
It looks like the British PM meeting a schoolboy boy who's won a trip as a prize for helping little old ladies.