FACTBOX-UK Privileges Committee's findings about Boris Johnson

The committee said: "if he had not resigned his seat, we would have recommended that he be suspended from the service of the House for 90 days for repeated contempts and for seeking to undermine the parliamentary process". MULTIPLE CONTEMPTS OF PARLIAMENT The committee found that Johnson had committed five contempts of parliament. These were deliberately misleading parliament; misleading the committee; breaching the confidence of the committee; "impugning the committee and thereby undermining the democratic process"; and being complicit in the campaign of abuse and attempted intimidation of the committee.

British former prime minister Boris Johnson deliberately misled parliament about illegal parties held at his Downing Street office during COVID-19 lockdowns, a committee of lawmakers said on Thursday after rejecting his central defence.

Johnson quit as a member of parliament last week before the report's publication. He has accused the privileges committee, a parliamentary standards body that has investigated Johnson, of mounting a "witch-hunt" and behaving like a "kangaroo court". The former prime minister said it was a lie to say he deliberately misled parliament and called the report a charade.

Below are the main findings from the report into Johnson's behaviour: JOHNSON DELIBERATELY MISLED PARLIAMENT

The committee said: "We conclude that when he told the House and this Committee that the rules and guidance were being complied with, his own knowledge was such that he deliberately misled the House and this Committee." JOHNSON WOULD HAVE FACED 90-DAY SUSPENSION FROM PARLIAMENT

The Committee said it would have recommended a suspension of 90 days from the House of Commons for Johnson if he had not resigned. Such a sanction would have triggered a possible election for his parliamentary seat had he not resigned. The committee said: "if he had not resigned his seat, we would have recommended that he be suspended from the service of the House for 90 days for repeated contempts and for seeking to undermine the parliamentary process".

MULTIPLE CONTEMPTS OF PARLIAMENT The committee found that Johnson had committed five contempts of parliament.

These were deliberately misleading parliament; misleading the committee; breaching the confidence of the committee; "impugning the committee and thereby undermining the democratic process"; and being complicit in the campaign of abuse and attempted intimidation of the committee. UNPRECEDENTED BEHAVIOUR FROM A PRIME MINISTER

The committee said: "We have concluded above that in deliberately misleading the House Mr Johnson committed a serious contempt. The contempt was all the more serious because it was committed by the Prime Minister, the most senior member of the government. There is no precedent for a Prime Minister having been found to have deliberately misled the House." JOHNSON WAS DISINGENUOUS

The committee said: "We came to the view that some of Mr Johnson's denials and explanations were so disingenuous that they were by their very nature deliberate attempts to mislead the Committee and the House, while others demonstrated deliberation because of the frequency with which he closed his mind to the truth." ATTACK ON COMMITTEE WAS FURTHER CONTEMPT OF PARLIAMENT

The committee said: "This attack on a committee carrying out its remit from the democratically elected House itself amounts to an attack on our democratic institutions. We consider that these statements are completely unacceptable. In our view this conduct, together with the egregious breach of confidentiality, is a serious further contempt." JOHNSON SHOULD BE DENIED PARLIAMENT PASS

Former members of parliament are normally entitled to a pass that gives them access to parliamentary estate. The committee said: "In view of the fact that Mr Johnson is no longer a member, we recommend that he should not be granted a former member's pass."

TWO MEMBERS OF COMMITTEE WANTED JOHNSON TO BE EXPELLED FROM PARLIAMENT Two members of parliament on the committee – one Labour and the other from the Scottish National Party – wanted Johnson to be expelled from parliament. But the final report and sanction was signed off unanimously by all seven members.

SIX EVENTS The committee listed six events in Downing Street where lockdown rules were not observed and concluded that Johnson could not have believed that these were "essential for work purposes".

The report said it is "unlikely on the balance of probabilities that Mr Johnson, in the light of his cumulative direct personal experience of these events, could have genuinely believed that the rules or guidance were being complied with".