Sam Francis
Political reporter

Leader of the Commons Penny Mordaunt became the first cabinet minister to say she will vote for the Privileges Committee’s report a little earlier.

This is significant as MPs are not being forced to publicly reveal whether they back the committee's findings - to use the House of Commons jargon, today is a one line whip.

Boris Johnson himself has asked his supporters not to vote against a report because - as our political editor Chris Mason has put it - this might expose just how diminished Johnson's parliamentary support is now.

It would have been extraordinary for the Leader of the House not to back a report commissioned by the House. But so far, no other cabinet minister has done what Morduant has.

Conservative MP Lia Nici says she cannot see where the evidence is that Boris Johnson misled Parliament, "knowingly, intentionally or recklessly", which is met by laughs from MPs.

She says last year she was one of Johnson's parliamentary private secretaries for six months and was with the former prime minister when Partygate investigator Sue Gray's report was published.

Nici says, after reading the report, the "reality is some people had parties, but sadly, they were unelected officials and they should have stood by and made sure they weren't having ministers in difficult situations by advising them incorrectly".

Iain Watson
Political correspondent

It’s a measure of the mood in the Commons - and the make up of those who have attended the debate - that the contribution of Lia Nici, a former parliamentary aide to Boris Johnson, is met with laughter and calls of "rubbish".

She blames officials for the parties and advisers for misleading the former prime minister.

Partygate saga still haunting Sunakpublished at 17:49 British Summer Time 19 June 2023

17:49 BST 19 June 2023

Alex Forsyth
Political correspondent

The fallout from the Partygate saga has a long tail – and what Labour MPs have been saying so far in this debate is just one of the reasons it still matters.

It’s not just Boris Johnson coming in for criticism, but Rishi Sunak too.

Labour’s Thangam Debbonaire accused the current prime minister of weakness for not saying whether or how he would vote in regard to the committee’s report – if it comes to that.

Earlier Sunak said he didn’t want to influence MPs, who are free to make their own minds up on this matter.

But it is another reminder of how he’s struggled to move on from the actions of his predecessors – and how Labour is determined not to let him.

Image source, BB

Labour MP Dame Angela Eagle is next to give her speech and she says that members of the Privileges Committee have had to have "extra security" as a result of the fallout from the report's findings.

She says Boris Johnson ran from the accountability of the House of Commons, from his constituents in Uxbridge and South Ruislip as well as his Party members.

"There has been no self-reflection, no apology, no acceptance or a shred of responsibility.

"Just the narcissistic howl of a man child," she says.

If you're just joining our coverage of the debate, here's an quick summary of the key points we've heard so far:

• Tory Minister Penny Mordaunt said she will vote in favour of the Privileges Committee report, encouraging fellow MPs to be "left alone" to vote with the conscience
• Her Labour counterpart, Thangam Debbonaire, says Prime Minister Rishi Sunak should have blocked Boris Johnson's honours list
• Green MP Caroline Lucas accused Conservative MPs who are abstaining from the vote of cowardice
• The SNP's Deidre Brock said the report demonstrates a "culture of shattering rules" in the government throughout the pandemic
• Former Tory PM Theresa May said her colleagues must be seen to hold their own to account, to show the public there is "not one rule for them and another for us"
• The committee's chair, Harriet Harman, says a second report into MPs who sought to undermine their work is being prepared

Image source, NEIL HALL/EPA

The report MPs are discussing now concluded that the former Prime Minister Boris Johnson deliberately misled MPs when he repeatedly told them Covid rules had been followed at all times in Downing Street.

The committee found he had "personal knowledge" of breaches of the rules and guidance in No 10, and decided it was "highly unlikely" Johnson had really believed the assurances he gave at the time.

That meant Johnson had committed a "contempt" of Parliament because his misleading reassurances stopped MPs from holding him to account.

Initially, the committee was minded to recommend a suspension of more than 10 days - enough to potentially trigger a by-election, meaning he could be voted out by his constituents.

But following Johnson’s attacks on the committee’s integrity, that recommendation was hiked up to 90 days.

Harriet Harman says a second report is being prepared into MPs who attempted to "intimidate" the committee to undermine their report, which she says means they may also be in contempt of the House of Commons.

The Labour MP is a member of the committee and chaired the report into Boris Johnson, after her predecessor recused himself over from it.

"None of that is a threat to free speech of members," Harman says - pointing out all the ways MPs can object to or comment on the work of the committee under the rules of Parliament.

"But what they must not do is interfere with the work this House has mandated," Harman says.

Alex Forsyth
Political correspondent

Interesting there from Harriet Harman.

She chaired the Privileges Committee and she’s come in for flak from Boris Johnson’s supporters about tweets she’d written, which they said led to doubts over her impartiality.

Asked about it during the debate by Jacob Rees Mogg, she said she took time to find out the government's view, and even offered to step aside because she was concerned about the “perception of fairness”.

But Harman says she was assured she should continue the work the House of Commons had asked her to do.

Cue cries of “mic-drop” from her Labour colleagues.

Jacob Rees-Mogg brings up what he calls "famous tweets" that were published by the Privileges Committee chair Harriet Harman in April 2022.

In them, Harman suggested that if former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and the then Chancellor Rishi Sunak, accepted fines for lockdown parties “then they are also admitting that they misled the House of Commons”.

Harman responds by saying after the tweets were brought to light, she made it her business to find out whether the government would have confidence in her if she continued to chair the committee.

Next up is Harriet Harman, the Labour MP who chairs the Privileges Committee that investigated Boris Johnson.

She says misleading the House is not a technicality but a matter of great importance.

"Ministers must be truthful; if not we cannot do our job," Harman says.

"It is as simple and fundamental as that," she adds.

She gives way to Tory MP Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg.

After an intervention from fellow Tory MP Tobias Ellwood, May says public trust and respect will be undermined if MPs are seen trying to protect colleagues.

The former prime minister says that respecting the report's findings is important to "show there is not one rule for them and another for us".

"And I also say to fellow members of my own party, that it is doubly important for us to act when one of our own is, however senior, is found wanting," she says.

May confirms she will vote in favour of the report and concludes by urging all members of the House to do the same to "help to restore faith in our parliamentary democracy".

Next up is former PM Theresa May, who says the report is "rigorous" and she accepts its findings.

She says "it's not easy to sit and judge" someone one day, only to bump into them later in the tearoom of the House of Commons.

May says she commends the committee for "painstaking work" and praises them for their "dignity in the face of slurs on their integrity".

Iain Watson
Political correspondent

There are more MPs on the opposition benches than on the government side – an indication of what we can expect in tone and content in this debate.

The SNP's Deidre Brock says the Conservative government "misled" the country throughout the pandemic.

She says in Westminster there was "not just a culture of bending the rules, but shattering them".

Brock points out how her colleague Ian Blackford was thrown out of the House of Commons for calling Johnson a liar in the past, while the "liar himself was protected by procedure".

We are now hearing from the Father of the House Sir Peter Bottomley.

Bottomley - the longest-serving MP in the Commons - starts by saying Debbonaire's speech was more "party political than was deserved by the occasion".

But, he refers back to a time when in the Commons in the 1980s when he was found to have done something wrong. He recalls saying: "I've made a mistake. I apologise."

He adds: "It seems to me for anyone else caught in the kind of situation that we are facing today, it is the kind of advice I hope someone would give me and advice I would take."

Sir Peter says he will support the report.

Image source, PA Media

One of the subplots to watch in today’s debate is the worsening relationship between Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and former PM Boris Johnson.

The two have a long history together and Sunak served as Chancellor in Johnson’s government.

The 2022 controversy around the government’s response to allegations against ex-Tory MP Chris Pincher - which eventually led to Johnson’s resignation - saw their relationship deteriorate.

Sunak became one of the first and most senior members of the cabinet to step down, leading to allegations from Johnson ally Nadine Dorries that he had “stabbed Boris Johnson in the back”.

Most recently, a war of words has erupted between the pair over the former prime minister’s honours list.

Sunak accused Johnson of urging him to admit a list of allies to the House of Lords, prompting Johnson to respond by saying the current prime minister was “talking rubbish”.

After an intervention from a Tory MP, Debbonaire says Sunak was "too weak" to stop Boris Johnson's honours list.

She says Labour believes Rishi Sunak should have "stood up" to the ex-PM and prevented him from being able to put people in the House of Lords.

"This is no way to run a country, it's time they stop squabbling amongst themselves and focus on doing the right thing by the people who put them here," she says.

Labour's Thangam Debbonaire says the report represents a "new low" in Boris Johnson's attitude to standards in public life.

She asks MPs, based on the situation as it stood in 2020 and 2021, if they could honestly say a party for 200 people with wine and snacks was necessary for staff morale.

Debbonaire says Johnson's explanations are "not credible", given the evidence is "damningly clear" that Covid rules were broken - which she says he "must have known", because he was the one announcing them.

"This isn't just the reasonable person test, it's the 'who on earth do you think you are kidding?' test. And he fails both," she tells MPs.

Much of the green seating in the Commons was empty as the debate over the report into Boris Johnson began.

About 25 Tories were visible - pictured below on the left - and about 37 Labour MPs and a handful from smaller parties on the right.

Image source, UK Parliament

More could turn up as the debate hots up, so watch this space.