'I am here to say to you, hand on heart, I did not lie to the House' Boris Johnson makes his opening statement to MPs investigating whether he intentionally misled Parliament over lockdown gatherings at Downing Street
It’s not normal for people to swear an oath when they give evidence to a parliamentary committee. They are not courts of law, after all.
Is this all just theatre? Well, not quite. The fact Boris Johnson has just done this also increases the jeopardy of this hearing. If a committee makes their witness take an oath, it means if they give any false evidence that could be punishable as"perjury" – that’s a criminal offence, accusations of which could be put to the police.Normally, not telling the truth to a parliamentary committee – or in the House of Commons – is only punishable as"contempt of parliament". Which is, as we know, what Boris Johnson is already being investigated for.
Contempt of parliament is something people can get sanctions for in parliament, but not in a court of law. There is a question about whether an MP can be charged with perjury for words uttered in Parliament, because of a ban on the courts getting involved in parliamentary proceedings dating back to 1688 – but this has never been tested, as no one’s ever been there.
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