on it. The clear implication is that there was nothing in the evidence and his criticism in public was a cynical attempt to manipulate Member and public opinion.
229. Our final conclusion is in relation to sanction. Although Mr Johnson’s resignation as an MP renders it impossible for a sanction of suspension to be imposed, we draw attention to the fact that before the events of Friday 9 June we had provisionally agreed to recommend a suspension long enough to engage the provisions of the Recall of MPs Act. In the light of Mr Johnson’s further contempts, we put on record that if he had not resigned his seat, we would have recommended that he be suspended from the service of the House for 90 days for repeated contempts and for seeking to undermine the parliamentary process, by:
- Deliberately misleading the House
- Deliberately misleading the Committee
- Breaching confidence
- Impugning the Committee and thereby undermining the democratic process of the House
- Being complicit in the campaign of abuse and attempted intimidation of the Committee.
In view of the fact that Mr Johnson is no longer a Member, we recommend that he should not be granted a former Member’s pass.
