and you ll remember nearly a year ago, borisjohnson was fined for breaking the law when he attended this gathering on his birthday. so this isn t about whether he broke the rules. this is about whether boris johnson misled parliament over those gatherings. that s being investigated by a committee of mps who are focusing on statements he made to parliament when he was prime minister. statements like this this was december, 2020. whatever happened, the guidance was followed and the rules were followed at all times. the committee of mps already says evidence suggests borisjohnson may have misled parliament. now borisjohnson submitted this document his written evidence for the investigation 52 pages of his legal defence. in it, he says, i accept that the house of commons was misled by my statements that the rules and guidance had been followed completely at no.10. he adds. when the statements were made, they were made in good faith and on the basis of what i honest
at the time. finally. there is no evidence at all that supports an allegation that i intentionally or recklessly misled the house . many of his allies agree. our political editor chris mason spoke to one earlier. does this get him off the hook? well, it shows categorically that not a single shred of evidence that boris knowingly misled parliament. what s more, where it s shown inadvertently there had been some inaccuracies, he corrected the record. and all this comes before a big day tomorrow where that committee of mps will question borisjohnson in a televised session. let s talk tojenny kleeman she s a journalist and broadcaster first of all about the crux of the matter, what this is all about is whether the prime minister miss led mps in parliament not about whether he broke covid rules. it is mps in parliament not about whether he broke covid rules. he broke covid rules. it is about whether he he broke covid rules. it is about whether he misled he broke covid rules. it i
mrjohnson and his wife. given that the rules said you could only meet one person, some staff were shocked. in messages seen by the bbc, they said. the same month, hannah brady lost herfather to covid. last year, she met mrjohnson in the very same garden. i think this pandemic, for me, is a story of two men. one is my 55 year old dad, who is dead, having spent 42 nights on a ventilator, fighting covid and no other illnesses. the other is a man who was 55 at the time of this party, borisjohnson, having survived covid himself, thought it was appropriate to host a party where you could bring your own booze, sit in the garden in downing street, where borisjohnson met me and four other bereaved families and told us to our faces, after listening to my dad s story, i did everything i could to save him. yesterday, he wouldn t answer
think i have as this thing goes ahead now as that you have to remember borisjohnson has put himself as the sole arbiter of ministerial code. he has now put a civil servant in a position where in a sense, she has to decide whether or not he stays as prime minister. because frankly, if you did break his own law, in relation to covid restrictions, his position is untenable, he has to go. i honestly think that, i would be very surprised, have been very surprised the reluctance of the police in anyway to get involved in all the previous situations that have been exposed where it clearly suggests there is a culture without downing street the rules do not apply to us, i think the police have to get involved now. because you are talking about a crime in the garden of downing street. it s incredible to be saying that but it s true. and to be saying that but it s true. and terms of voters, to be saying that but it s true. and terms of voters, this cuts through, doesn t it? the vast majority we
lockdown in may 2020. at the time, such gatherings were banned. a minister told the commons that the government would not comment while the official investigation into downing street parties is carried out. labour says borisjohnson cannot spend the next days and weeks hiding behind a whitehall inquiry, which is looking into whether the gatherings at no 10 broke covid rules. our political correspondent, damian grammaticas, reports. downing street this morning, questions piling up. should the prime minister apologise? should the prime i minister apologise? inside, in the cabinet meeting, there was no mention of the latest revelations about downing street parties, but this toxic issue won t go away for borisjohnson. in may 2020, the man behind him, his principal private secretary, martin reynolds, e mailed 100 staff inviting them to bring their own booze for drinks in the garden. witnesses have told the bbc around 30 attended, including mrjohnson and his wife. given that the rules said