LONDON — Rishi Sunak has yet to read a three-page, week-old report condemning allies of Boris Johnson who attacked parliament’s privileges committee, he admitted Tuesday.
Seven Tory MPs and three Tory peers close to the former prime minister were accused last week of waging a “coordinated campaign” to interfere with the privileges committee’s own inquiry into Johnson.
In their damning follow-up to that initial inquiry — which found in June that Johnson repeatedly misled parliament — the committee said the lawmakers put MPs on the committee under “improper pressure.”
But in a terse exchange with the Labour MP Chris Bryant at the House of Commons liaison committee Tuesday, Sunak refused to say whether he believes Tory MPs should apologize for their comments about the committee and said he had not read the report “yet” — despite last week asking a serving minister to apologize after he was named in the report.
“I’ve read the findings of the report, but I haven’t read the report from cover to cover,” Sunak added.
“It’s about three pages long,” an incredulous Bryant responded.
MPs will be given the opportunity to debate a motion on Johnson’s allies on July 10, which will then be put to a free vote. Sunak has missed previous standards-related votes, including a division which saw Johnson effectively stripped of his parliamentary pass.
Pressed on why he missed that Johnson vote — but still found time to yesterday “opine on the rules of cricket,” n Bryant’s words — Sunak stressed that he was at a Jewish Care charity dinner.
“I chose to fulfill my obligation to an incredible charity for whom that is one of their significant fundraising moments of the year. My presence there was something they asked for,” Sunak said.
Elsewhere in the liaison committee session, which sees MPs who chair select committees given time to grill the PM, Sunak said he doesn’t believe in the so-called “blob” — an apparent group of powerful officials who some right-wing Tories reckon is working to defy the government.
“I’ve always been supported by incredibly hard-working and diligent civil servants who responded to what I needed and worked all hours, day and night, to deliver what I wanted,” Sunak said.
