Rishi Sunak has refused to say whether he will approve the report that found Boris Johnson lied over partygate, saying he “would not want to influence anyone in advance of that vote”.
Speaking to Good Morning Britain on ITV, the Prime Minister said: “This committee was established under the former Prime Minister. It commanded the confidence of the house at the time and I’m sure that they have done their work thoroughly and I respect them for that.
“This is a matter for the house rather than the government, that’s an important distinction and that is why I wouldn’t want to influence anyone in advance of that vote.
“It will be up to each and every individual MP to make a decision of what they want to do when the time comes, it’s important the government doesn’t get involved in that because it is a matter for parliament and members as individuals, not as members as government.”
The motion on the Privileges Committee’s findings comes as Scotland Yard is “considering” the footage from a 2020 Christmas gathering at Conservative Party headquarters.
Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove, who has apologised for the video showing Tory staff dancing and joking about Covid restrictions, will also abstain from a vote, as will a majority of other Tory MPs.
Taking to Twitter, Peter Stefanovic said: “How hard can this be? Conservative MP’s either oppose lying in Parliament or support it.
“The whole rotten lot should be thrown from office at the first opportunity.”
Related: Switzerland backs new climate measures in referendum as glaciers melt ‘at an alarming rate’
