Mel Stride says Privileges Committee sanction against Boris Johnson went 'too far'
20 June 2023, 08:25
Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride has said he abstained from his Partygate inquiry vote as he didn't agree with the 90-day suspension of Boris Johnson.
Although he said he "totally accepts" the finding that Boris Johnson lied in parliament, Conservative MP Mel Stride did not vote for or against the Privileges Committee's report due to his issue with their chosen sanction.
"I have to say I really struggled with the extent of the sanction that was implied - this 90-days," Mr Stride told Nick Ferrari.
"To put that into some kind of context, ten days is a trigger point for a recall petition whereby a sitting MP could end up losing his seat and be ejected from the House of Commons. To have ended up at a point that is nine times that threshold really did feel to me to be going a bit too far."
He went on: "But as I say on the substantial conclusions that the committee reached in terms of willfully misleading the Commons, the way in which Mr Johnson interacted with the committee when he appeared before it etc. I totally accept those findings and I accept the integrity of the committee and the robustness of its findings."
