Relatives of Covid victims condemn 'pathetic' Boris Johnson

Jane Morrison is a member of Scottish Covid Bereaved

A Scots woman who lost her wife during the Covid pandemic has branded Boris Johnson's response to the damning Privileges Committee report "pathetic".

The probe ruled the ex-prime minister committed "repeated contempts" of Parliament by deliberately misleading MPs over Partygate.

Jane Morrison, whose wife Jacky died of Covid in May 2020, said the scandal was a "slap in the face" for the public.

Mr Johnson has attacked the "deranged" findings of the report.

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Branding him the first former prime minister to have ever lied to the Commons, the Privileges Committee recommended a 90-day suspension which would have paved the way for a by-election if the former Tory leader had not already quit as an MP.

His resignation means he will escape that punishment but the committee recommended that he should not receive a pass granting access to Parliament which is normally given to ex-MPs.

Mr Johnson hit out at what he called a "deranged conclusion", accusing the committee - which has a Tory majority but is led by Labour veteran Harriet Harman - of lying.

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross has confirmed he will back the recommendations of the report in a parliamentary vote, while First Minister Humza Yousaf said Mr Johnson had "betrayed" the UK.

'Chucked his toys out the pram'

Ms Morrison, who lives in Crieff, Perth and Kinross, condemned the former prime minister and his bullish response to the report.

"Not only did he hold parliament in contempt, he held the whole British public in contempt," she told BBC Scotland.

"It's pathetic. He's just chucked his toys out the pram."

The Scottish Covid Bereaved member said she was "disgusted" by the Partygate scandal.

"I was lucky I could be with Jacky at the end," Ms Morrison said. "But I couldn't be there when they told her she was dying and there was nothing they could do.

"To think when that's going on and you've got people getting drunk, and playing stupid party games and playing on kids' swings and having fridges delivered full of wine and stuff like that, it's difficult to find the words because it's so insulting."

Lisa Wilkie, who lives in Livingston, West Lothian, lost her brother Graham during the pandemic.

Lisa Wilkie and her brother Graham, who died in May 2020

He was in hospital in intensive care on 20 May 2020 - the day of the infamous Downing Street garden drinks gathering. He died the following day.

"While Boris was having a party, my brother was alone in intensive care and we were all alone in our houses waiting to see if he'd live or die," she told BBC Scotland.

She said the parliamentary report was too little too late, adding: "There are so many people I've spoken to who have had their entire lives literally just blown up.

"Hearing Boris claim 'witch hunt' and 'they're just trying to make me look bad'. No, nobody is trying to make him look bad, he did that himself."

The Privileges Committee report will be debated in Parliament on Monday, with Tory MPs to be given a free vote.

Mr Ross – who was accused of repeatedly U-turning on calls for Johnson to quit as prime minister during the height of the Partygate scandal – said he would vote in favour of the report's recommendations.

"It was just a couple of months ago that Boris Johnson said that he fully respected the work of the Privileges Committee and I think it's right that we respect the work they've done and support the recommendations," he told BBC Scotland.

Mr Ross said he had made his "feelings known" about the former prime minister, but recognised his "achievements in office", citing the UK's response to the war in Ukraine.

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The Scottish Tory leader originally said there should be a vote of no confidence in Mr Johnson over the Partygate scandal in January 2022, but withdrew the call in March when war broke out in Ukraine.

After the Sue Gray report was published, Mr Ross said he believed Mr Johnson should remain in office but added he would still have to quit if an inquiry found he had misled Parliament.

Although Mr Ross confirmed In June 2022 that he was not among the MPs who had called for a no-confidence vote in Mr Johnson, he said he would vote against the prime minister.

After Mr Johnson survived the vote, the Scottish Tory leader suggested he should consider resigning.

Mr Johnson ultimately stepped down as prime minister following a mass revolt by his ministers, including then chancellor Rishi Sunak.

First Minister Humza Yousaf said it was an "extraordinarily dark chapter in Westminster's history".

Humza Yousaf has urged Tory MPs to back the report's recommendations

He told reporters he was thinking "first and foremost" of those who lost loved ones during the pandemic.

"Boris Johnson has not just betrayed the House of Commons, but has betrayed every single person in this country," Mr Yousaf said.

He called on the Scottish Conservatives to apologise for the "full backing" they gave to Mr Johnson and urged their MPs to vote in favour of the sanctions on the former prime minister.

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn told the BBC: "This report confirms what most of us already knew, that Boris Johnson is a liar and he has repeatedly lied not just to the public but to Parliament too."

He called for the "disgraced" former prime minister's legal costs to be repaid to the taxpayer, for his £115,000 parliamentary allowance to be scrapped and for his honours list as a to be "put in the bin".