speeding fines she received. was at asked and he reviewed e—mail sent by the home office civil servants to the cabinet office's propriety team. they expressed concerns about what was being asked of them by the home secretary. i would ask him if the independent adviser reviewed any correspondence who conducted any interviews on this matter. today, i have not received a reply. i wait in anticipation to see if the prime minister will fulfil his promise to lead a government with integrity at every level. my apologies. deputy speaker mack, just begin by expressing my thanks to my right honourable friend, the

memberfor to my right honourable friend, the member for camberwell and peckham? for her stewardship and the way she has chaired this privileges committee with such strength and integrity and also thanks to all the members of that committee as well. now, the report was a damning indictment of the former prime minister's behaviour, finding that yes, he indeed deliberately misled this house. no surprise to me, as in my opinion he was never suitable for high office, especially the great office of state of the office of prime minister. even his disgraceful track record. now, there is an old saying, but when someone shows you who they are, believe them. and let's face it. there is a litany of examples of mrjohnson�*s failures and lies. he lied about brexit, he was sacked for lying multiple times, indeed, he lied to the late her

majesty the queen. so i will be voting to endorse this report, although i believe i wish the committee actually chose to ban him for life, but i want to encourage all honourable members opposite to alsojoin us in the lobbies. mr deputy speaker, there are just a a few points that i want to raise and firstly, it is rad leadership and accountability. in this place we are all leaders and i believe leaders must lead by example, holding oneself to a higher standard and level of accountability, following laws, following rules and really, as representatives of the people, to our constituents as well. so this is even more important during the global health emergency. but as prime minister, borisjohnson was meant to be responsible for ensuring that everyone in this country was working towards that shared common goal of defeating covid. so how

shameful is it that he failed to uphold the laws he introduced? and has shown no comment zero accountability for his actions? he failed to show any regard for the millions of people in our country like my constituents in battersea who followed the rules and the laws and made huge sacrifices. i think of those who couldn't visit their dying family members or couldn't say, or couldn't attend their funerals. the ill and disabled people who were stuck without vital health and social care support. not to mention the blanket application of do not attempt resuscitation orders that were in place up and down this country, until we had to intervene on the then health secretary. the small businesses who are economically impacted by lockdown, causing immense financial hardship, which some are still experiencing today. and mr deputy speaker, i honestly could go on sharing more

examples. but let us not forget the over 225,000 people who lost their lives to covid. yet no apology from the former prime minister. instead, enabled by his supporters, he claimed that there has been a sustained attempt to seemingly, that is seemingly coordinated to weaken him. and we have seen some distasteful examples of that this evening. now, my third point is about his persistent undermining of parliament and the impact his reckless actions have had on parliament and trust. our parliamentary democracy depends on members from across the house being certain that ministers can and will be telling the truth will stop and, for whatever reason, a ministerfrom the dispatch box makes a mistake, they will come to this house and correct the record. that is how this place should function and work. and

as a prime minister, you would think he would know the importance of this. but he put our parliamentary democracy at risk when he fought, in fact, i believe he probably believes this, but the rulesjust fact, i believe he probably believes this, but the rules just don't apply to him. debasing the great office of state. mr speaker, i have to say, and i think we would all say, what message does this send to the public and our constituents? what confidence can they have in this place? and also for our political institutions, this really has to be a watershed moment for us in this place. now, my final point has to be about our current prime minister and some members of the opposite benches. they knew that the former prime minister misled the house, they knew that he lied. they failed to act to remove him. instead, they allowed him to continue in office.

we were all here on these benches watching on from that dispatch box. worse still, even after the lies were revealed, they thought it was right that taxpayers should pick up the tab, paying for his legal fees of up to £250,000. in this cost of living crisis. now, as for all the talk from this current prime minister about integrity, he has failed to do the right thing and block the former prime minister's honours list, which, mr deputy speaker, was well within his gift to do so. but he chose not to. why? because he is too weak and his absence here is, demonstratesjust how weak he indeed is. the benches opposite just show you who is still in control of that party. and it is clear that the current government cannot be trusted with our precious democracy, is this government in power only govern for themselves and

their own interests. and it always has to be one rule for them and then one for everybody else. that is not good enough. they do not care about the public�*s interests and we saw that, not only with them keeping borisjohnson in powerfor so long, but we saw it when they were handing out contracts to their friends and their cronies and so on. again, mr deputy speaker, i could go on. this government has presided over one of the worst scandals in our country's history. i believe it is time to restore trust in our parliamentary democracy. because if we do not have trust in our democracy and in this place, then what do we have? it is a privilege to serve here. i see it as a privilege to serve here. it is not my right to be here. it is nobody�*s right to be here. our constituents elect us and may elect us and we take an oath of office when we stand

in this place. and it is important that all members across this house remember that.— remember that. all: nepa hear, hear!. remember that. all: nepa hear, hear!- thank _ remember that. all: nepa hear, hear!. thank you, _ remember that. all: nepa hear, hear!. thank you, mr _ remember that. all: nepa hear, hear!. thank you, mr deputy - remember that. all: nepa hear, - hear!. thank you, mr deputy speaker and it is an honour to follow my friend. i was elected in 2009 —— backin friend. i was elected in 2009 —— back in 2019 and i think in the last interesting three years one thing that i always keep dear to my heart is that being an honourable member comes with responsibilities and as my honourable friend said, there are some people, sadly, in this house who feel that it is their birthright. i am absolutely humbled to be elected by my constituents and i take that with such pride. every time i speak and stand in his chamber, i rememberthat time i speak and stand in his chamber, i remember thati time i speak and stand in his chamber, i remember that i am here to speak on their behalf, not by behalf. i am to speak on their behalf, not by behalf. iam here to speak on their behalf, not by behalf. i am here to articulate their concerns and their interests to the government of the day. i am

here to work across party. there are some honourable members on that side that i have done a lot of work with, issues that are, for the interests of our constituents and that is why what we are debating matters. it is about the fabric of our democracy and a number of people have spoken about the fact that this is a kangaroo court, this doesn't matter, but let's stick to the facts. on the let but let's stick to the facts. on the 21st of april 2022, this house without division referred the privilege committee on the matter concerning the conduct of the former prime minister. and that committee, that cross—party committee has at all times followed the law and the custom set by this parliament. and the fundamental procedure is governed by the standing orders and precedents of this house. and all the evidence that committee has heard over the course of their inquiry, including evidence from the former prime minister, all that evidence was given under oath.

including the signed evidence. and the former prime minister also had the former prime minister also had the opportunity to give written evidence and oral evidence, which he did on the 22nd of march. and i understand that he subsequently gave evidence on the 22nd of may, written evidence. and after all that work, the conclusions of the committee were presented to the former prime minister, who then, for want of a better word, went out on a hissy fit and got quite angry and, breaking the procedures and confidentiality. and i think what we are discussing today has to matter, if we are going today has to matter, if we are going to restore trust back into our democracy. one of the best aspects of this role is going up and down, visiting the schools. and when you speak to young people, they don't lie. they will ask you those honest questions. and you have young people in some of my constituency ask me, why are parliamentarians, why do mps

like? it is quite, it is quite hard. and when you are sat in front of those young people, what do you say? you want to say to them, the majority of members are doing a decentjob, the majority of members are here to represent their constituents, but what they are seeing, what they are hearing from their parents and carers discussing it it paints a different picture. that is why what we are discussing it today matters. we want more young people to get involved in our politics, we want people to trust our democracy, but that won't happen if we have ministers misleading this house. i will give way on that point. house. i will give way on that oint. ~ , , , point. mr deputy speaker, the honourable — point. mr deputy speaker, the honourable member _ point. mr deputy speaker, the honourable member is - point. mr deputy speaker, the honourable member is making point. mr deputy speaker, the i honourable member is making a point. mr deputy speaker, the - honourable member is making a very important point. if you think about it, much of the education of our young people is based on the concept of true and false. we come to mathematics, chemistry, biology... this sum of human knowledge is based on facts that are either right or wrong. and they have a clear concept of what that means. and i think that

we should say to ourselves to remind ourselves why these concepts are so very, very valuable. and i would just draw the house's attention to a poem written in 1907 called matilda. read it and it is instructive. i thank the honourable member for thank the honourable memberfor his... intervention fair. i agree with him. i read many books to my eight—year—old and six—year—old and i will definitely make sure we add that to our collection. and go back to the work of the committee, the committee found that the former mr... ,, , , ., ., committee found that the former mr... she gets burnt to death. deliberately _ mr... she gets burnt to death. deliberately misled _ mr... she gets burnt to death. deliberately misled the _ mr... she gets burnt to death. | deliberately misled the committee and was complicit in intimidation towards the committee. on be sad aspects of being a member of parliament, again, iam aspects of being a member of parliament, again, i am very honest

when people ask me and say, what don't you like about your role as an mp? the abuse, the misogyny, the racism, the threats that i have faced and that other members have faced, just for doing the job that we like. and to see that members of this committee, having been asked by us in this house to carry out this role, had been faced with that intimidation is worrying. no one should have to face that for doing their role. and i want to bring us back to why all of this matters. i have spoken in this house on many occasions about the tragic death of ishmail mohammed abu ali. he was 13 years old. he was the youngest people that lost his life. and his family couldn't attend that funeral. and i still remember when i spoke to his mum and sisters to console them. i mention that... that call was hard

for me, i broke down on that call because to hear a mother say, i am never going to see my son again, this was quite hard. and if we look at the covid memorial wall in my constituencyjust at the covid memorial wall in my constituency just across the at the covid memorial wall in my constituencyjust across the river, walking up and down there, one cannot but be moved at by to look at all the hearts of the families and lives lost. they were not the ones who didn't follow the rules. they were the ones who sacrifice the precious moments with those who love they loved. they are the ones who will be looking at this report and saying, well, why didn't we? not only did we have a prime ministry was primarily responsible for breaking those rules, setting them and then breaking them, but we also have a former prime minister who then went on to misleading the house and then being disingenuous in statements. the public rightly expect high standards from us. this report is notjust about high standards, it is about being truthful. it is about owning up to

your mistakes, taking responsibility. how can any of us, as honourable members, ask our constituents to trust us, if we don't take those breaches of trust seriously? it's a situation where i understand the consequences of their own actions may be a moral concept of the former prime minister, but it's one that we have to deliver today if we are to answer our constituents. i'd also like to pay tribute to the right honourable member for peckham, whose fair chairing of the committee produced this report. it's disgraceful that other members faced an accurate and unjust briefings against them. —— inaccurate. iwant to finish by reading a quote from a poem on the second anniversary when the first parts were drawn on the coven memorial wall. i attended that event with many members —— covid.

part of the poem, anthem for the pandemic by susie flinton, reads, "as such, there will be the voice of the loss. names resurrected, candles lit, heads bowed. we the ones who contemplate the cost. we the ones who speak their names loud. they exist between one heartbeat and another. the hearts that explicitly still beat. we speak the names while the world recovers. to us, recovery is bittersweet." the world recovers. to us, recovery is bittersweet-"— the world recovers. to us, recovery is bittersweet. "_ it l is bittersweet." caroline lucas. it is bittersweet." caroline lucas. it is a pleasure _ is bittersweet." caroline lucas. it is a pleasure to _ is bittersweet." caroline lucas. it is a pleasure to follow _ is bittersweet." caroline lucas. it is a pleasure to follow the - is a pleasure to follow the honourable member and the power that was in the poem shejust honourable member and the power that was in the poem she just quoted. honourable member and the power that was in the poem shejust quoted. mr deputy speaker, i want to express sincere gravity to to the privileges committee and in particular the, the right honourable member for

camberwell and peckham. and i speak today with a feeling of overwhelming relief that at last the truth is being told in this house in the collective gas lighting of the nation is finally over. it is shocking in a way that a committee has had to spell it out that, and i quote, if ministers cannot be trusted to tell the truth, the house cannot do its job. trusted to tell the truth, the house cannot do itsjob. even more shocking that the minister in question was the most senior person in government, the prime minister. a prime minister who sought to obscure the truth from those to whom he was accountable by lying deliberately and repeatedly. and who by lying to parliament, was also lying to the people who elected. in a prime minister who has effectively shredded the ministerial code, a crucial part of the spinal cord of the constitution and the words of

the constitutional historian the lord hennessey of mansfield. now, borisjohnson announced on the day the report was published that, and i quote, this is a dreadful day for mp5 and democracy. but in fact, mps and democracy. but in fact, the reverse is true. it was a day which saw british democracy vindicated it against unprecedented attacks. but i want to be very clear that our democracy is fragile and there was nothing inevitable about this particular outcome. i think the shows that are good chap conventions of government allowed a road a prime minister to run them off for far too long —— robe prime minister. it also does shows the different mps, long —— robe prime minister. it also does shows the different mp5, or prime minister, deliberately lying and undermining the processes of this house, they can be held to account. i say can be and not will be advisedly because this inquiry had to be fought for. there was nothing guaranteed about it. and

because our standards system are still not fit for purpose. i think it is both negligent and dangerous to assume democracy is inevitable, perpetual and unshakeable. it is not. it is breakable and contingent. we have to actively and vigilantly defend it, and that is why standing together in support of this report is so essential. it's why goes beyond just beyond the rogue activities of one particular member of parliament. we also need to strengthen the mechanisms we have to hold government to account, because the remains serious incidents of former ministers that have gone uncorrected. we need new mechanisms to call any minister to account if they deliberately mislead the house. a view shared prior to priority gate. chaired by lord evans. it is

shocking that the role of the so—called admin will make independent adviser is essentially false advertising and will continue to be so until that person is appointed independently until they are able to initiate their own investigations and until they have the authority to determine breaches of the code. these basic yet fundamental changes would allow backbenchers to raise concerns and evidence with the adviser, who could then act, as they and not the prime minister only saw fit. the current prime minister could have made the changes, but he has chosen not to. neither has he appointed an anti—corruption champion for the position has been left vacant for over a year. our systems need to be strengthened, so that if a minister mislead the house deliberately, or if they do it inadvertently but don't correct, a formal process to hold them to account should be an inevitability. this inquiry only came about in april 2022 because of the spiralling unease and rebellion

of some members on borisjohnson's backbenchers, meaning he couldn't whip his mps to prevent it. april 2021, ijoined a wide cross—party group of mps to call for an inquiry into borisjohnson's repeated lies to the house on other matters, and it did not happen. it's somewhat ironic to learn via a subject access request how that call has been labelled as myths or disinformation i want to the government unions of honesty —— for the government. members of all parties must stand by this committee and demonstrate that rules matter. parliament is more important than party and standards in public life must be upheld. honourable members on the opposite benches in particular, i would argue, must face the trump intimidation orchestrated by a small band of anti—democraticjohnson

supporters. there needs to be very clear that it's notjust cowardice, it is complicity in the former prime minister's and depth of parliament. the current prime minister ought to be here and leading by example, and instead he's chosen to be silent and he is conspicuous by his absence tonight. nor has he ruled out the idea in the future. if there were any thread of seriousness in his pledge to restore accountability and integrity, he should unambiguously endorse the privileges committee report tonight and urged his fellow party members to do the same. i will. �* , ., ., ., will. i'm very grateful to her for aaivin will. i'm very grateful to her for giving way- _ will. i'm very grateful to her for giving way. would she - will. i'm very grateful to her for giving way. would she agree i will. i'm very grateful to her for i giving way. would she agree that will. i'm very grateful to her for - giving way. would she agree that the prime minister not attending, he is endorsing the conduct. isn't it at a time where we depart from this

principle of dishonesty being baked into the offer being made by boris johnson originally? because that's what got us into this mess in the first place, that that was deemed to be inseparable in return for electoral advantage of. i be inseparable in return for electoral advantage of. i thank the honourable — electoral advantage of. i thank the honourable member _ electoral advantage of. i thank the honourable member for _ electoral advantage of. i thank the honourable member for his - honourable member for his intervention, and i agree entirely with his points. indeed, i think by not speaking out tonight, the prime minister is guilty of collusion effectively, and he has really, really not stood up for the key principles that are at stake and that he frankly hasn't done his duty tonight. to conclude, this committee report is a vital part of a fight back against post—truth politics. truth is not a technicality, as the report states. what is at stake here are our most profound principles in the very concept of decency and public life. leading by example versus hypocrisy, truth versus lies

and respect versus contempt. there can be no failing to turn up or sitting on the sidelines. the choice is either being prepared to stand up and defend democracy or being prepared to turn a blind eye to it. this is much bigger than one robe prime minister, and i think all of us will be rightlyjudged tonight on what we choose to do —— robe. thank what we choose to do -- robe. thank ou, mr what we choose to do -- robe. thank you. mr deputy _ what we choose to do -- robe. thank you, mr deputy speaker. _ what we choose to do -- robe. thank you, mr deputy speaker. -- - what we choose to do -- robe. thank you, mr deputy speaker. -- rogue. l you, mr deputy speaker. —— rogue. every time another new story breaks during the pandemic, i reminded of the quote attributed to sir douglas barter. rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools. i've never agreed with that sentiment and i certainly don't know, because while her constituents followed the rules, while front—line workers risked their lives and while people lost their lives to the deadly virus, the former prime minister misled this house and our

constituents and took us all for fools. i echo the things expressed by honourable members across the house to the members expressed working diligently to this report —— the thanks. it couldn't be clearer. people feel angry, betrayed and let down. i could stand here all day and talk about the anger and injustice felt by so many people. last week, i met the landlord of a pub in the heart of my constituency. like so many other businesses in chester, he closed up shop as soon as the former prime minister interest up to do so. he observed all the rules and guidance, and like thousands of other small businesses, the price paid was a heavy one. still feeling the impact to this day. chester zoo fought tooth and nail to keep caring

for the thousands of animals, plants and the mission of preventing extinction with no money coming in. they thought number ten were working hard to help them out. they're now disappointed and saddened that what the committee has discovered, was actually going on. finally, two of my constituents who i met at the service of remembrance at the covid memorial walljust service of remembrance at the covid memorial wall just across the bridge, they stood in tears remembering their late parents who died within 2a hours of each other during the pandemic. they pointed at the houses of parliament and said, "we will never forget and we will never forgive. " "we will never forget and we will never forgive." as this report spells out, if the prime minister can't be trusted to tell the truth, then parliament can't do what it should do. the public�*s confidence in democracy has been undermined and the public want him to be held

accountable for undermining our democracy. on behalf of my constituents and everyone who did follow the rules, i will be voting for this motion and the government, including our current prime minister, should follow precedent, approve the report and endorse the sanctions in full.— sanctions in full. think you ever so much. sanctions in full. think you ever so much- boris _ sanctions in full. think you ever so much. boris johnson _ sanctions in full. think you ever so much. boris johnson is _ sanctions in full. think you ever so much. boris johnson is a _ sanctions in full. think you ever so much. boris johnson is a liar. - sanctions in full. think you ever so much. boris johnson is a liar. it. much. borisjohnson is a liar. it would be unthinkable to say to the house only a few short months ago. fundamentally profoundly shocking about saying this. this institution that we revere so much, there's no other way to put it. borisjohnson lied to this house. you were saying that long before that became fashionable. the snp had even held a

debate on this very issue several months ago to highlight that point and ensure this was heard loud and clear. my right honourable friend for us wasn't matched out of this place for asserting something that is now a profound truth. she is actually right, a retrospective a policy should now go to both of these members —— apology for getting absolutely right. this is a stain on their record. the fact that they were asked to leave this place for saying something that we now know to be a conventional truth. we were also one of the first to bring up theissues also one of the first to bring up the issues about those parties. we wanted to ensure that this house wanted to ensure that this house understood clearly what was going understood clearly what was going on, that we had a prime minister that was happy to have drinks parties for his staff in a number of locations in number ten. when he had overseen the introduction of

legislation that everybody else in this country diligently followed. constituents of ours, mistrusting. missed weddings, christenings, for goodness say, they missed few in a funerals while watching that prime minister standing there with glasses of wine in his hand. —— they missed funerals. he made him on foot for public office. we knew a reckoning would be coming and his reign of chaos would come to its inevitable and disastrous end. everything in this report vindicates us utterly and absolutely for everything that we have been saying for something like 15 and 16 months. we even predicted his response to this report! his refusal to take responsibility, lashing out at others who correctlyjudged him attempted to undermine