Newspaper headlines: 'Johnson in peril' as he 'fights for his future'

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By BBC News
Staff
UK Parliament

Boris Johnson's appearance before a committee of MPs investigating him over Partygate is the focus for most of the front pages.

The Times reports that the former prime minister is fighting for his political future. It says that during a "fractious three-and-a-half hour hearing", Mr Johnson accused the Privileges Committee of acting as "prosecutor, judge and jury" - as it criticised his "flimsy" evidence.

The i agrees that he's "in peril". It says he lost his cool and shouted "complete nonsense" as MPs questioned him about whether he lied to Parliament.

Metro thinks Mr Johnson was "rattled" and squirmed over "slogans and bottles of booze" during what it calls "several bad-tempered exchanges" with the seven-strong panel who'll decide his fate.

The Guardian reports that he's facing a formal reprimand for misleading Parliament. The paper says "flimsy" Partygate answers have left him "on the brink", after the MPs investigating him suggested he'd wrongly interpreted Covid guidance.

"Besieged, but defiant" is the Daily Telegraph's assessment of his performance. It says Mr Johnson hinted that he could refuse to accept the inquiry's verdict, if it finds that he misled the House of Commons.

The Daily Express describes the former prime minister as "bullish" as he faced what it calls his "interrogators in a televised showdown". The paper echoes his words in its headline: "Hand on heart, I did not lie".

According to the Daily Mail, Mr Johnson was "as agile as a cat", while the committee chairwoman and Labour MP, Harriet Harman's "face was thunder". The columnist, Sarah Vine, calls the ex-PM "the Captain Jack Sparrow of British politics" - adding that he was "in the dock in front of his peers, fighting not just to clear his name, but also to salvage his career".

But the Daily Mirror accuses him of "insulting Covid families" - and "those who sacrificed so much" with a "string of Partygate excuses". "Just drinks after a difficult day? asks its headline - with the response: "plenty of people were having difficult days, Boris."

The Daily Star once again likens him to Pinocchio. It says he blamed everyone but himself, as he insisted his pants were "not on fire" over parties at Number 10 during Covid.

The Telegraph also covers yesterday's other main event at Westminster - with Rishi Sunak's Brexit deal comfortably clearing its first hurdle in the Commons after a major Tory rebellion failed to materialise. However, senior Eurosceptics have told the paper "they will carry on the fight".

The FT highlights Mr Sunak's decision to release his tax returns. The paper notes that he published them yesterday afternoon, when attention was on Mr Johnson's evidence to the Partygate inquiry.

Finally, the Sun praises Prince William's secret mission to Poland to meet British troops close to the Ukrainian border. "Wills the freedom fighter," reads the paper's headline, as it reports he told soldiers they were "defending our freedoms" against Vladimir Putin's Russia.