Privilege: Conduct of Right Hon. Boris Johnson

Peter Bottomley Excerpts

Monday 19th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Sir Peter Bottomley (Worthing West) (Con)]

The last speech was perhaps more party political than was deserved by the occasion. I would have preferred to have spoken after the Chair of the Privileges Committee, but I do so now and I draw the House’s attention to annex 3, on page 90, which deals with the:

“Purported response of Mr Johnson to the Committee’s warning letter”.

What he says and the Committee’s comments seem to provide the context on process.

The Committee has given its understanding of what the facts were and how it tried—successfully, I believe—to exclude the things that were not facts. The question facing each of us is: no matter how many good things we have done—the former Prime Minister did many good things—what do we do when we have done something wrong? Although this was on a pretty unimportant issue, on 2 December 1985 I managed to get two sentences into one line of a column of Hansard. My words were:

“I made a mistake. I apologise.” —[Official Report, 2 December 1985; Vol. 88, c. 84W.]

For anyone else caught in the kind of situation we are considering today, let me say that I hope someone would advise that approach, and that it is the sort of advice I hope I would take. I will support the Committee.

[Mr Speaker]

May I just say to the Father of the House that if he gives me notice in future, I will certainly put him down the pecking order, but I did not know that he wanted that?

I call the Scottish National party spokesperson.