BORIS Johnson has stepped down as an MP for Uxbridge – triggering an immediate by election.
The ex-PM said he was “very sad to be leaving Parliament” and accused a parliamentary committee of being “determined” to “drive me out”.
BORIS Johnson has stepped down as an MP for Uxbridge – triggering an immediate by election
His resignation comes after the Privileges Committee recommended he be suspended from Parliament for more than 10 days amid a row over over alleged breaches of lockdown rules in Downing Street.
The full statement reads:
“I have received a letter from the Privileges Committee making it clear – much to my amazement – that they are determined to use the proceedings against me to drive me out of parliament.
“They have still not produced a shred of evidence that I knowingly or recklessly misled the Commons.They know perfectly well that when I spoke in the Commons I was saying what I believed sincerely to be true and what I had been briefed to say, like any other minister.
“They know that I corrected the record as soon as possible; and they know that I and every other senior official and minister – including the current Prime Minister and then occupant of the same building, Rishi Sunak – believed that we were working lawfully together.
“I have been an MP since 2001. I take my responsibilities seriously.
“I did not lie, and I believe that in their hearts the Committee know it. But they have wilfully chosen to ignore the truth because from the outset their purpose has not been to discover the truth, or genuinely to understand what was in my mind when I spoke in the Commons.
“Their purpose from the beginning has been to find me guilty, regardless of the facts. This is the very definition of a kangaroo court.Most members of the Committee – especially the chair – had already expressed deeply prejudicial remarks about my guilt before they had even seen the evidence. They should have recused themselves.In retrospect it was naive and trusting of me to think that these proceedings could be remotely useful or fair.
“But I was determined to believe in the system, and in justice, and to vindicate what I knew to be the truth.It was the same faith in the impartiality of our systems that led me to commission Sue Gray. It is clear that my faith has been misplaced. Of course, it suits the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats, and the SNP to do whatever they can to remove me from parliament.
“Sadly, as we saw in July last year, there are currently some Tory MPs who share that view. I am not alone in thinking that there is a witch hunt underway, to take revenge for Brexit and ultimately to reverse the 2016 referendum result.
“My removal is the necessary first step, and I believe there has been a concerted attempt to bring it about.
