- By being unable to deny that he said the words “probably the most unsocially distanced gathering in the UK right now” while not admitting that he said them, which has the ring of avoidance about it. See paragraphs 68 to 69. (Paragraph 189)
Was it a contempt?
25. We have given very careful consideration to the question of whether Mr Johnson misled the House recklessly or intentionally. He himself told us that:
I am here to say to you, hand on heart, that I did not lie to the House. When those statements were made, they were made in good faith, and on the basis of what I honestly knew and believed at the time. (Paragraph 198)
26. Mr Johnson argues that whether or not the Covid Rules and Guidance were breached at gatherings he attended, or was aware of, at No. 10 (and he continues to maintain in the case of the six gatherings we investigated that they were not breached), he himself, along with many others at No. 10, genuinely believed they were complying with the Rules and Guidance. (Paragraph 199)
27. To a great extent this defence depends on whether Mr Johnson genuinely believed that the gatherings were work events that satisfied the criteria in the Rules that such events be (before June 2020) “essential for work purposes” or (from June 2020) “reasonably necessary for work purposes”, and the criteria in the Guidance that, if social distancing cannot be observed, such an event “needs to continue for the business [or organisation] to operate”. We have noted that Mr Johnson was not willing to say that, if asked, he would have advised the general public that work events intended solely to raise morale satisfied these criteria. We have set out, at paragraph 117 above, our conclusion that it is “unlikely on the balance of probabilities that Mr Johnson, in the light of his cumulative direct personal experience of these events, could have genuinely believed that the Rules or Guidance were being complied with”. (Paragraph 200)
28. We have also set out, in paragraphs 188 to 189 above, a list of ways in which we consider Mr Johnson has misled the House or been disingenuous in his responses to our inquiry. His personal knowledge of breaches of the rules and guidance, combined with his repeated failures pro-actively to investigate and seek authoritative assurances as to compliance issues, amount to a deliberate closing of his mind or at least reckless behaviour. We find it highly unlikely that Mr Johnson having given any reflection to these matters could himself have believed the assertions he made to the House at the time when he was making them, still less that he could continue to believe them to this day. Someone who is repeatedly reckless and continues to deny that which is patent is a person whose conduct is sufficient to demonstrate intent. Many aspects of Mr Johnson’s defence are not credible: taken together, they form sufficient basis for a conclusion that he intended to mislead. (Paragraph 201)
29. We conclude that in deliberately misleading the House Mr Johnson committed a serious contempt. (Paragraph 202)
