Sir Bernard Jenkin refuses to talk about lockdown-busting party claims
Sir Bernard Jenkin refuses to break silence over lockdown-busting party allegations, storms off amid questioning
- Sir Bernard Jenkin voted to end Boris Johnson’s political career over Partygate
- He co-authored report by the Privileges Committee that condemned Johnson
Bernard Jenkin yesterday refused to break his silence over allegations he attended a lockdown-busting party – as Downing Street urged him to come clean.
The Tory grandee, one of Boris Johnson’s chief Partygate inquisitors, said nothing in answer the Mail’s questions about the ‘birthday drinks’ bash he attended for his wife in December 2020.
This newspaper caught up with him in Parliament, and asked if he had broken any rules and if he felt he was being treated unfairly. We also asked him if the police had been in touch. He twice refused to answer before storming off, saying: ‘I’m not saying anything.’
Sir Bernard voted with MPs on Monday night to approve the privileges committee report he co-authored that condemned Mr Johnson over Downing Street gatherings during lockdown, all but ending the former premier’s political career.
This was despite facing the possibility of a police probe himself, which Mr Johnson’s allies claim makes him a ‘hypocrite’.
Tory MP Sir Bernard Jenkin (pictured) has stayed silent following claims he attended a lockdown-busting drinks party in December 2020
An MP loyal to Mr Johnson said last night: ‘Sir Bernard’s drink-in silence must mean he feels guilty for drumming Boris out of parliament while himself attending an allegedly lockdown-breaking event. The sheer hypocrisy is staggering. He should be referred to the privileges committee and investigated himself.’
READ MORE: SIR BERNARD JENKIN STILL SILENT FIVE DAYS AFTER CLAIMS OF LOCKDOWN PARTY EMERGE
It came as No 10 urged Sir Bernard to cooperate with Scotland Yard over the 2020 gathering.
Alcohol and cake were allegedly on offer at the event, which involved as many as ten people. At the time, indoor socialising was banned in England. Asked if people at the centre of allegations about several lockdown-busting parties should cooperate with the police, Rishi Sunak’s spokesman said: ‘Yes, of course.’
A source with knowledge of the celebration Sir Bernard attended, which took place in Deputy Speaker Dame Eleanor Laing’s office, claims that social distancing ‘went out of the window’.
An ally of Sir Bernard claimed he believed it was a ‘work event’ – a similar defence used by Mr Johnson about gatherings he attended.
Speaking briefly to the Guido Fawkes website last week, Sir Bernard said: ‘I did not attend any drinks parties during lockdown.’
Scotland Yard is ‘assessing’ whether lockdown rules were broken. Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has ordered parliamentary officials to assist the force.
Mr Sunak’s spokesman said yesterday the Prime Minister gave his ‘full support’ to the privileges committee after MPs approved its report on Monday night.
He said: ‘The Prime Minister believes they have conducted a thorough inquiry and have his full support in doing so. He respects the view of the House that was taken on Monday and it’s right that members, whoever they are and whatever position they have held, are held to account for their actions.’
But the spokesman would not set out whether the PM agrees with the report after he skipped Monday night’s vote, which No 10 has blamed on a diary clash.
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