'Fatal flaw' will allow Boris Johnson to be his own judge and jury over Partygate, Diana Johnson warns
Hull North MP Dame Diana Johnson suggested there was a “fatal flaw” in the system given the Prime Minister makes judgment on the ministerial code but is “at the centre of allegations of having broken the law and misled the House”.
She asked in Parliament: “Doesn’t this go against all the rules of natural justice of being judge and jury in your own case?”
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Hide AdIn response, Cabinet Office minister Michael Ellis claimed Mr Johnson is a “man of integrity” and said civil servant Sue Gray's internal inquiry into the allegations is still ongoing.
Mr Ellis, a former attorney general, replied: “We don’t have any result of the inquiry as yet. She’s putting, if I may say so, the cart before the horse.
“What I would say is the Prime Minister is a man of integrity, as I’ve said before, and the ministerial code has always been since it was created under the purview of the prime minister.”
The issue was also raised by Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner.
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Hide AdShe said: “When the Paymaster General was sent to cover for the Prime Minister this week, he told the House that a fair and impartial investigation takes place before there is judge, jury and executioner.
“But the terms of reference for that investigation are clear. Any matters relating to the conduct of ministers should follow the process set out in the ministerial code. That process is also clear: the Prime Minister is the ultimate judge of the appropriate consequences of a breach.
"So is the Prime Minister going to act as the judge and jury even though he’s also the man in the dock? Or will his Conservative colleagues find their integrity and finally act as executioners to his premiership?”
Cabinet Office minister Steve Barclay said: “The Prime Minister addressed those points to the House yesterday at Prime Minister’s Questions time when he apologised.”
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