Sunak squirms as he is put on the spot about the Boris Johnson vote

Sunak’s answer to Peston’s question on Boris Johnson

Rishi Sunak noticeably looked uncomfortable as he was put on the spot for the first time over whether he agreed with the Privileges Committee’s controversial report into Boris Johnson.

On Monday the Commons voted to back the committee’ recommendations that Mr Johnson should have had a 90 day suspension for deliberately lying to Parliament and not be allowed a former MP’s pass now he has resigned.

Supporters of Mr Johnson disagree with the findings and believe the punishment was “vindictive”.

However, Mr Sunak was not present to take part in the vote and made no comment.

At a PM Connect event today at an IKEA in Kent, Mr Sunak was confronted on the issue by IT’s Robert Peston.

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Mr Sunak squirmed and looked grim as the question was put to him.

He responded: “I have enormous respect for the Privileges Committee, support the Privileges Committee and respect the vote of the House.

“But what I also want to say is that I don’t want to focus on the past I want to look forward.

“Boris Johnson is no longer amember of Parliament it is right that people whoever they are, whatever position they hold, face the results of their actions and are held accountable.

“That is what has happened.”

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He went on: “I wasn’t there to vote because I was at a charity decision as you know.

“But as you kn ow I am someone who took a very difficult decision to resign from Boris Johnson’s government.

“It’s not an easy thing to do as Chancellor. It’s a big deal.

“I did that because at the time I disagreed with the approach to government.

“So that tells you I am prepared to act according to my values and the standards I want to see. That wasn’t happening.

“I think standards matter. Integrity matters.”

Mr Sunak and Downing Street have been accused of “colluding” with the Privileges Committee over the report into Mr Johnson.

However, the Prime Minister has tried to distance himself from the findings or making any comment into them.

His words today will be taken as confirmation by many supporters of Mr Johnson that he does back the findings.

Others though have pointed out that Mr Sunak also was fined over Partygate and has refused to correct the record in Parliament from when he said he had not broken the rules.

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