Law and religion round-up – 17th June

90 days is a long time in politics…

… or out of it, particularly with the loss of a Parliamentary Pass.

Boris Johnson and the Commons Committee of Privileges

On Thursday, the Commons Committee of Privileges published its Final Report on “conduct of Rt Hon Boris Johnson”. The Committee concluded as follows:

“Although Mr Johnson’s resignation as an MP renders it impossible for a sanction of suspension to be imposed, we draw attention to the fact that before the events of Friday 9 June, we had provisionally agreed to recommend a suspension long enough to engage the provisions of the Recall of MPs Act. In the light of Mr Johnson’s further contempts, we put on record that if he had not resigned his seat, we would have recommended that he be suspended from the service of the House for 90 days for repeated contempts and for seeking to undermine the parliamentary process, by:

    • Deliberately misleading the House
    • Deliberately misleading the Committee
    • Breaching confidence
    • Impugning the Committee and thereby undermining the democratic process of the House
    • Being complicit in the campaign of abuse and attempted intimidation of the Committee.

In view of the fact that Mr Johnson is no longer a Member, we recommend that he should not be granted a former Member’s pass.

The Report is to be considered by the House tomorrow. Its direct connection with “religion” is admittedly tenuous – but it should not be forgotten that the matters covered in the report took place at a time when places of worship were closed and funerals were subjected to a strict limit on numbers attending.

Employment and “protected beliefs” again Continue reading