Jacob Rees-Mogg urges Bernard Jenkin to quit privileges committee amid police probe

Johnson ally said Sir Bernard should only return to the panel that found former PM guilty if he is cleared of breaching Covid rules

Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said Sir Bernard Jenkin should resign from the Privileges Committee. Reuters

Jacob Rees-Mogg has said Sir Bernard Jenkin must quit the parliamentary committee which found Boris Johnson guilty of misleading MPs over Partygate, while police investigate claims he too broke lockdown rules.

The staunch ally of Mr Johnson said Sir Bernard “should recuse himself from involvement in the committee and he should only come back to it if he’s cleared.”

Sir Bernard is a member of the Privileges Committee in the House of Commons, which last month found the former prime minister had misled MPs five time while serving in No 10. The seven-member panel recommended a 90-day suspension for Mr Johnson, were he still an MP.

Police in London this week opened an official investigation into potential breaches of lockdown rules at a gathering that took place on December 8, 2020. At the time, there was a ban on socialising indoors in London.

The party was allegedly held to celebrate the 65th birthday of Sir Bernard’s wife, Baroness Jenkin, and cake and drinks were served.

Mr Johnson in June said Sir Bernard appeared to be guilty of “flagrant and monstrous hypocrisy” after reports emerged he had attended.

Sir Bernard declined to comment on the ongoing investigation.

Speaking to The Telegraph’s political podcast, Mr Rees-Mogg suggested it is inappropriate for Sir Bernard to remain on the committee while officers are carrying out their probe.

By remaining in his position, Sir Bernard is undermining the committee’s damning report on Mr Johnson, he said.

“If you have somebody who produced a report that pontificated in this way, and if it now turns out that actually he was breaking rules in the same fashion, then it fundamentally undermines the report because of the approach to the defence Boris gave,” Mr Rees-Mogg said.

“Boris kept on saying he thought it was in the rules at the time. He [Sir Bernard] has been saying it was a work meeting, which is what Boris said. Have we been applying a different standard to the former prime minister than Sir Bernard applies to himself?”

Mr Rees-Mogg urged Sir Bernard to rethink membership of the Privileges Committee, saying he should step down and return only if police find he did not break lockdown rules.

The outspoken former Cabinet minister was one of several loyal backers of Mr Johnson who were criticised for attacking MPs on the Privileges Committee.

The Met issued 126 fines over rule breaches in Whitehall and Downing Street while Mr Johnson was prime minister, in a scandal that helped end his tenure in No 10.

Mr Johnson and his then-chancellor Rishi Sunak paid fixed-penalty notices over a gathering held for Mr Johnson’s 56th birthday.