Guido understands that the Metropolitan Police have confirmed to the Speaker’s Office they will investigate, despite the passage of time, if a formal complaint is made about Bernard Jenkin following our exclusive report. Guido also understands that Eleanor Laing has changed her story and given conflicting explanations for the events of December 8, 2020. There is a “list of attendees” circulating in Westminster, they are not answering their phones to the media…

UPDATE:  The complaint would have to be from a first person witness, not from a third party based on media reports.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article erroneously reported the Speaker’s Office had been told an investigation was already under way.

In one chippy section of the Privileges Committee’s report they claim that

“…from the outset of this inquiry there has been a sustained attempt, seemingly co-ordinated, to undermine the Committee’s credibility and, more worryingly, that of those Members serving on it. The Committee is concerned that if these behaviours go unchallenged, it will be impossible or the House to establish such a Committee to conduct sensitive and important inquiries in the future. The House must have a Committee to defend its rights and it must protect Members of the House doing that duty from formal or informal attack or undermining designed to deter and prevent them from doing that duty. We will be making a Special Report separately to the House dealing with these matters.”

It has been our openly stated opinion from the outset that this was a Kangaroo Court and that Harriet Harman was not a fit person to chair the committee (Harman Unfit for Quasi-Judicial Privileges Committee Chairmanship) for the reasons we outlined, as per her tweets she had already made up her mind:

If Bernard Jenkin thinks we are “undermining his credibility” by attacking his hypocrisy over his own law-breaking attendance at a party with drinks and cake during lockdown, it is for him to quite simply explain in this Special Report why the standards he piously demanded of Boris Johnson don’t apply to him. The matter is not irrelevant, it goes to the heart of his credibility and questions his authority to sit in judgement. Since Guido understands valid complaints have or are going to be made to the parliamentary authorities he will presumably get an opportunity to explain himself under oath. His current vow of silence will have to come to an end.

Guido suspects this Special Report will restrict its censure to parliamentarians who questioned the credibility of the “Kangaroo Court”. They won’t want to be seen to be attacking the freedom of the press. However, if they want to come after Guido, bring it on!

A Tory MP comments…

“It is absolutely devastating. His credibility dead and integrity skewered. Exposed as the toxic, malign person everyone knew him to be. It wouldn’t be human not to feel for Sir Bernard this morning. But then we remember he is a cunt.”

As of this morning, Bernard Jenkin is still refusing to talk after Guido’s exclusive yesterday afternoon. He was spotted – ashen faced – hanging around at the Speaker’s office end of the library corridor in Parliament last night while on the phone. Whoever he was speaking to, it wasn’t the media…

Guido hears other MPs have since written to the Privileges Committee over Jenkin’s conduct following Nadine Dorries’ letter last night. At least one MP has also reportedly written to Parliamentary sleaze watchdog Daniel Greenberg, which could lead to an investigation if accepted. Boris himself has written directly to Kangaroo Court chair Harriet Harman, demanding to know if any other Committee inquisitors have broken the rules…

Speaking of the Kangaroo Court, its 33,000 word report is expected at around 9 a.m., with Boris’s response published soon after. The report, which is longer than Of Mice and Men, will find Boris committed “multiple” contempts of Parliament, and would have recommended a Commons suspension of longer than 10 days. Guido looks forward to reading Bernard’s analysis. When Guido asked his fellow Tory MPs how they felt about the news last night, one simply said “we are all laughing”…

Dear Harriet,

You will no doubt have seen the reports in today’s media concerning Sir Bernard Jenkin. It has been reported that he attended a rule-breaking birthday party event when London was in Tier 2 restrictions. The reports suggest alcohol was served at the event and that it broke the rules on numbers. To my knowledge, as of this point, he has made no attempt to deny the allegations.

And yet at no time has he seen fit to tell you, or the House of Commons about this alleged gathering. He has repeatedly insisted that any such breaches are a matter of the utmost gravity for any public servant.

If indeed it is the case that he broke the rules himself – and knowingly broke them – Sir Bernard is guilty of flagrant and monstrous hypocrisy.

But I am afraid it is far worse than that.

He has just voted to expel me from the House of Commons because he says – falsely – that I concealed from the House my knowledge of illicit events.

If indeed he did attend a blatantly rule breaking event he would be guilty of doing exactly what he claims that I did. Although this report is not yet confirmed by an investigation, I believe he should have informed the Committee of his conflict and he should have informed the House.

He should have recused himself.

I really find it incredible – and nauseating – that this matter is emerging at this stage of your process.

Are you please able to confirm that you have asked every member of the committee whether they attended any such events, and that these checks were made before your inquiry began?

I would be grateful for your urgent response and to know how the committee intends to proceed, since it seems to me that Sir Bernard can no longer be held to have been a valid judge or investigator in these proceedings.

Yours

Boris Johnson

After two hours, we have no comment from Bernard Jenkin. So far as Guido knows he is not taking calls from the press. So here’s a reminder of some of his most hypocritical statements at the Privileges Committee:

• “The rules were clear, they were there for everyone, and no one is above the law…”
• “The lockdown was a time of sacrifice and hardship for many.‘it’s only right that those in power should lead by example”
• “The public trust in our institution is paramount. Any breach, however minor, is a serious matter”
• “We must hold ourselves to the highest standards. If we do not, how can we expect the public to do so?”
• “It is not just about following the letter of the law, but also the spirit of the law. We, as public servants, should be the first to adhere to this”
• “We cannot expect the public to follow rules that we ourselves do not follow. It is a matter of integrity and honesty”
• “Transparency is key in these matters. Any attempt to hide or downplay breaches only serves to undermine public trust”
• “We must remember that our actions have consequences. Breaching lockdown rules can lead to serious health risks for others”

Bernard really needs to hold himself to the same standard he demanded of Boris.