Downing Street has refused to say if Rishi Sunak believes Boris Johnson misled MPs, repeatedly declining to express any view at all on a Commons vote which censured the former prime minister.
Ministers were among 354 MPs who voted on Monday night to endorse a privileges’ committee report which found that Johnson had repeatedly lied when he assured the Commons he was unaware of lockdown-breaching parties. Only seven MPs voted against.
Sunak was entirely absent from the near six-hour debate and the vote, with No 10 saying he had other engagements.
Asked whether the prime minister had a view on the decision, which blocked Johnson from receiving the standard ex-MPs’ pass, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “The prime minister thanks to the committee for their thorough work, and he fully respects the decision of the house on this matter.
“He’s made clear it was rightly a matter for parliament and not the government.”
Under sustained questioning, the spokesperson declined to say even if Sunak agreed with the committee’s conclusion that Johnson had misled MPs.
“He respects the decision the house has come to,” he said. “This follows extensive work by the committee, but beyond that, I don’t have any more to add.”
He also declined to say how Sunak might have voted if he had attended. “I wouldn’t get into how he may have voted if he was there. Obviously, that is the definition of a hypothetical.”
Such a lack of clarity is likely to fuel the belief that Sunak is scared of upsetting remaining Boris Johnson supporters among Conservative MPs, while also not wanting to formally back the now largely unpopular former PM.
Asked if this stance showed a lack of backbone, the spokesperson replied: “It was right to enable a free vote to ensure the house could come to a collective view, and he respects that view.”
Asked if Mordaunt was speaking for the government, Sunak’s spokesperson said: “You’ve got our position on the former prime ministers’ honours system. I’m not aware of when the leader of the house made those comments, but I’m not aware of any plans to change our approach.”
Mordaunt voted to endorse the report, as did ministers including Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, and Alex Chalk, the justice secretary.
The spokesperson agreed the issue was important, and that it was wrong for MPs to mislead the Commons.
He added: “It’s an important issue and that’s why the prime minister felt the right approach, to ensure the process was carried out correctly and without undue influence, was for him to ensure this free vote could take place, and the house could collectively come to a view on an important issue. That’s what he has facilitated, and that’s what’s happened.”
