Blistering thread on PM’s contempt of/for House of Commons is a must read

On Tuesday, some MPs will attempt to secure an answer to the question of whether Boris Johnson deliberately misled Parliament – something he has denied…

A thread 🧵 on contempt of/for the House of Commons..

— Hannah White (@DrHannahWhite) April 18, 2022

The PM’s allies will dismiss this move as political theatre & it is true it is unlikely the PM will be held to be in contempt of Parliament given his government’s majority, although the move will force some Conservative MPs who have remained silent to publicly support Johnson…

— Hannah White (@DrHannahWhite) April 18, 2022

And MPs’ attempt to hold the PM to account for his words in parliament is of wider importance…Why? Parliament has several roles but arguably its most important is providing a check on executive power by scrutinising the decisions and actions of government ministers…

— Hannah White (@DrHannahWhite) April 18, 2022

Without scrutiny ministers would be free to exercise their extensive powers arbitrarily. Their actions could still be retrospectively challenged in the courts, but a country where a legislature’s checks are eroded risks edging towards autocracy see Russia https://t.co/9ZJcp8AHdn

— Hannah White (@DrHannahWhite) April 18, 2022

This is why the accuracy of information ministers give to Parliament is so important – scrutiny is ineffective unless ministers answer MPs’ questions truthfully – & why the ministerial code imposes the most severe consequences for misleading parliament – resignation…

— Hannah White (@DrHannahWhite) April 18, 2022

This is why the accuracy of information ministers give to Parliament is so important – scrutiny is ineffective unless ministers answer MPs’ questions truthfully – & why the ministerial code imposes the most severe consequences for misleading parliament – resignation…

— Hannah White (@DrHannahWhite) April 18, 2022

But concern has been growing about inability of MPs to enforce the candour required to make their scrutiny role effective. The Commons has acknowledged it could no longer imprison or fine a select committee witness who refused to appear or misled a committee…

— Hannah White (@DrHannahWhite) April 18, 2022

…and the reputational consequences of such contempts appear to have lost their fear for some eg Dominic Cummings https://t.co/M75SsgE4Nb…

— Hannah White (@DrHannahWhite) April 18, 2022

Even before ‘partygate’ MPs were expressing concern about the weakness of mechanisms to challenge the accuracy of statements made by ministers in the Commons. The UK Statistics Authority has publicly rebuked both Johnson and Matt Hancock for misleading use of statistics…

— Hannah White (@DrHannahWhite) April 18, 2022

…but under parliamentary rules deliberate inaccuracies are difficult to challenge on the floor of the House (except on a formal motion) as Ian Blackford found recently (https://t.co/au5R17mrmE)…

— Hannah White (@DrHannahWhite) April 18, 2022

And while a misleading statement by a minister is a contempt against parliament, it is up to the PM to determine any consequences including for himself. Parliament’s procedures for seeking to establish a contempt can be readily nullified by a government with a majority…

— Hannah White (@DrHannahWhite) April 18, 2022

…or simply ignored as Theresa May showed when her government was held in contempt in 2018 (https://t.co/gLXpfrrihh)…

— Hannah White (@DrHannahWhite) April 18, 2022

MPs cannot require ministers to correct the record if they mislead the House, compel an investigation into a deliberate inaccuracy or impose any sanction against the will of a majority govt. Only political pressure can secure the consequences intended by the ministerial code…

— Hannah White (@DrHannahWhite) April 18, 2022

But that does not mean MPs who suspect a contempt should not bother to use the mechanisms available to them. On the contrary it is essential that the Speaker provides an opportunity for MPs to use the procedures that do exist to draw public attention to their concerns…

— Hannah White (@DrHannahWhite) April 18, 2022

This is not just important for the PM’s future. Surveys show the public has contempt for the House of Commons. Evidence that ministers suspected of lying to parliament can do so with impunity without even being challenged by MPs would do further serious damage to its reputation…

— Hannah White (@DrHannahWhite) April 18, 2022

If MPs do not even mount an investigation when the PM has been found by police to have personally broken a law he repeatedly told the House had not been broken, the public’s view of the validity of parliamentary scrutiny will likely suffer further irreparable damage…

— Hannah White (@DrHannahWhite) April 18, 2022

It is not only the political future of Johnson but the credibility of parliament itself which MPs must weigh in the balance when deciding how to proceed: the credibility which underpins our entire system of democratic government.

— Hannah White (@DrHannahWhite) April 18, 2022

(For more on these themes see my new book ‘Held in Contempt: what’s wrong with the House of Commons?’ available in all good bookshops – appropriately enough – from tomorrow… https://t.co/M7HUf3Ev8s)

— Hannah White (@DrHannahWhite) April 18, 2022

Really good thread from @DrHannahWhite on why lying to parliament is not just part of some political game https://t.co/dPGlrJrr8m

— Gavin Esler (@gavinesler) April 18, 2022