Privileges Committee Report—an open letter to my MP

Dear Vicky Ford,

As one of your constituents, I am writing to urge you in the strongest possible terms to participate in Monday’s debate on the latest report of the Privileges Committee regarding former Prime Minister Johnson's deliberate lying to the House of Commons. I urge you to vote to endorse the committee's findings.

Since a great deal has been said and written about Mr Johnson and his activities, it is worthwhile summarising some points as I understand them:

Item: The Privileges Committee of the House of Commons is always chaired by someone drawn from the Opposition, so the criticism of Harriet Harman is irrelevant.

Item: The chair only takes part in voting when ballots are tied.

Item: The majority of members of this committee are Tories.

Item: Any actions, sanctions etc. arising from findings made by the committee have to be sanctioned by a vote in the House of Commons. [Item added at 23:40, 15 June]

Item: The former Prime Minister’s Trumpian tantrum on seeing the Privileges Committee report, makes it clear that he is quite delusional, and not only has a casual disregard for the objective truth, but also a perceived immunity from the rules that govern the rest of us.

Item: When he was a journalist writing for The Times, Johnson was fired by the editor for fabricating, in a piece he wrote for the newspaper, a quotation from an Oxford don regarding Edward II.

Item: He was sacked from the Opposition Front Bench by Michael Howard for lying about an extra-marital affair.

Item: During the runup to the European referendum he famously wrote two, one-page  pieces for the Daily Telegraph, one in favour of Remain, one for Leave, taking the weekend to consider which one to publish. If he believed so passionately in the case for leaving the EU—as was clear from his campaigning—why was it necessary to take two days to make up his mind? Many consider that his decision to support Leave was a cynical ploy, thought by him to be the quickest and safest route to his ambition of becoming Prime Minister.

Item: His decision to suspend Parliament in order to supress debate on the European exit agreement was deemed unlawful by the Supreme Court—it has been said that he lied to The Queen

​Item: His attempt to change the rules and save Owen Patterson was simply scandalous and rightly quashed by his peers.

Item: His lie that he was unaware of the allegations regarding Chris Pincher led ultimately to mass resignations from his government, and Johnson’s own resignation.

Former Prime Minister Johnson was ejected from office by his own government, and has now been sanctioned for lying to The House of Commons by a committee of his peers. I believe that by the use of his personal charm and ability, Johnson did more than anyone else to swing many undecided voters to opt for leaving the EU, the disastrous consequences of which are now starting to become clear. Furthermore, he did this not out of any sense of public duty or deep political belief, but solely for his own personal benefit. He was not chary of using questionable methods in achieving this end. He smirked and waffled on air when challenged by a journalist on the infamous £350M message on the side of the bus, which he and everyone else knew was a lie, the actual amount being £250M.

In my view this person is entirely unfit for public office, and all steps should be taken to ensure that he can never again be allowed to stand for Parliament.

Yours sincerely,

Peter Maggs