“A minister who lies in Parliament must resign,” says former British MP

“The ministerial code says very clearly that a minister who lies to Parliament must resign”Dominic Grieve, former British Conservative MP and former Attorney General in David Cameron’s government, explained Wednesday January 12 on franceinfo after Boris Johnson apologized to the House of Commons for attending a party in Downing Street Gardens at a time when citizens’ movements were very restricted.

franceinfo: Is Boris Johnson’s future in jeopardy?

Dominic Grieve: Yes surely. I will be very surprised if he survives as Prime Minister for another two or three months. His answers and his explanations showed a big mistake to have participated in this reception in the garden, but in addition he lied to Parliament on several occasions. The ministerial code, which he gave to the public when he took office, says very clearly that a minister who lies to Parliament must resign.

Does anyone blame him?

There are divisions within the Conservative Party, even among those who wanted Brexit. It is certain that the impressions we have of Boris Johnson are that his government is completely chaotic. He seems to like chaos.

Do you think some members of the government want him to pay for Brexit?

I am not sure, even if the party was divided. Brexit is over, so in a sense this is no longer the main divide in the Conservative Party. The current problem is that Boris Johnson does not seem to be able to govern. He is very good at campaigning but he is not a man ofEtat.

What could push him to resign?

There could be a motion of no confidence and no confidence in the government and at that point the government collapses and a new government has to be created. This would be done with a new Conservative Prime Minister. In my opinion, that is not what will happen. It is more likely that there is an internal Conservative Party vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson. At that point it’s over. Party regulations dictate that at that point he resigns as party leader and if that happens there will be a new prime minister. It could happen almost immediately, but people want to wait for the investigation report on these receptions. I think the report will be released at the end of next week. For many conservatives getting rid of the prime minister involves risks. People don’t want to say openly that they want him to go.