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George Peretz QC Profile picture
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Jan 20 • 15 tweets • 3 min read
Interesting analysis by @lewis_goodall last night on Newsnight on whether Johnson has lied to Parliament on Partygate.
One issue is whether he has lied in relation to what he knew/was told about the 20 May BYOB event before it happened. That will depend on evidence (written/oral).
Another issue - which Lewis correctly took separately - is whether this statement on 1.1.21 was a lie.
Given that Johnson on his own admission attended the BYOB event for 25 minutes, how is that not a lie (a statement he knew to be false)?
One conceivable defence is that he somehow after 25 minutes didn’t realise - and *still hadn’t realised by 1.1.21* - that the BYOB event wasn’t (essentially) necessary for work purposes and that guidance hadn’t been followed.
Or thought (on 1.1.21) that in some way the event didn’t breach guidance.
My analysis is, essentially, “good luck with that”.
Lewis however suggested another defence: that the 1.1.21 statement referred only to the event on 18.12.21. See the quote in context.
I have to say that my reaction is, again, good luck with that. Johnson made no attempt to limit his denial to a particular event or timeframe. “All”; “completely”.
There are various ways in which he could have limited the reply to a particular time window. He didn’t. No doubt because that would have raised further questions.
He could (as he did several times yesterday) simply have dodged the question. He didn’t do that either.
It’s the equivalent of replying to the question “Did you sleep with X (not your spouse) last October?” with “I’ve always been completely faithful to my spouse”. If you slept with X in June, that is a lie.
So I really don’t think that that defence works either.
Any such defence also - when you think about it - sounds awful: “When I said ‘all’ and ‘completely’ I meant ‘only on that occasion’.” Legalistic nitpicking of the worst sort, most people will feel.
(Typo on dates above: “1.1.21” should be 1.12.21, and “18.12.21” should be 18.12.20.)

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More from @GeorgePeretzQC

George Peretz QC Profile picture
Jan 19
Which is why it doesn’t really matter (see the #r4today discussion with Heappy) whether Johnson knew what the event was before he arrived. He was there - on his own admission - for 25 minutes.
What we are being asked to believe is that Johnson could have been at a “work event” or party, with booze and people taking advantage of the lovely weather together, without realising that it breached rules and guidance (see @AdamWagner1’s explanation of what they were).
If anyone does manage to believe that, I’m impressed. Perhaps it’s something they practise at training sessions for Conservative candidates. Image
Read 5 tweets
George Peretz QC Profile picture
Jan 15
There really isn’t any more to be said. Johnson lied to Parliament. Johnson’s Ministerial Code sets out the consequence of that lie.
(From theguardian.com/commentisfree/…)
The central pillar of our system of parliamentary democracy is ministers’ accountability to Parliament. That pillar is built on sand if ministers - especially the PM - lie to Parliament without having to resign.
Read 5 tweets
George Peretz QC Profile picture
Jan 13
A typically excellent survey by @cath_haddon of the limitations on the Gray inquiry and what happens next. instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/downing-s…
The interesting question is what happens politically if she says that the PM's behaviour raises questions outside the scope of her inquiry and recommends/suggests that he refers himself to Lord Geidt. As I read it, that recommendation/suggestion would be in scope.
(And in any event, the facts may well make it obvious that there are serious questions under the Code - as matters stand, it’s hard to see how there aren’t.)
Read 7 tweets
George Peretz QC Profile picture
Jan 11
This is an excellent piece on the recent UK case-law on the extent to which UK courts should, under the HRA, regard themselves as bound by Strasbourg ECtHR case law. It is relevant to a key aspect of the current government’s consultation on HRA reform.
First, the current U.K. case law.
There are some problems here. First, if you say that the U.K. courts applying the HRA should never go beyond the ECtHR, does that mean you can’t find an HRA breach just because the ECtHR has not ruled on that particular issue, even if it has found a breach in analogous case?
Read 12 tweets
George Peretz QC Profile picture
Jan 11
As @BarristerSecret has already dispatched this article in @spectator by @SBarrettBar, there is perhaps no need to plunge a further dagger into its corpse. But there is a bit more to be said.
As SB says, this passage is difficult to reconcile with how (much) law actually works. Let’s start with the case referred to (on blocking highways).
It’s DPP v Ziegler in the Supreme Court. supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uks….
Read 15 tweets
George Peretz QC Profile picture
Jan 10
Important point on government record-keeping. Government by WhatsApp is unaccountable government, vulnerable to corruption. opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocra…
At the moment, the Ministerial Code says nothing on the topic: though the danger is recognised in the guidance on face-to-face meetings, and guidance given.
There is government guidance on the use of private email and other electronic communication. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl….
Read 12 tweets

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