Rishi Sunak has “confidence” in government minister Lord Goldsmith after he was criticised in the partygate interference report, Downing Street has said.
The Tory peer, who is also a foreign office minister, was one of 10 Boris Johnson supporters accused of seeking to undermine a Commons inquiry into whether the former prime minister lied to MPs about Downing Street lockdown parties.
The privileges committee, in a special report about “vociferous attacks” on the investigation, pointed to a tweet from Lord Goldsmith characterising its work as a “kangaroo court” and “witch hunt” against Mr Johnson.
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The cross-party panel said this was one of “many examples” of attempts by Johnson supporters to frustrate and undermine their investigation to stop it “coming to a conclusion which the critics did not want”.
Pressure is now piling on Mr Sunak to condemn the MPs named, who also included former cabinet ministers Nadine Dorries, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Priti Patel.
Labour has accused the prime minister of allowing “senior members of his own party to undermine and attack Britain’s democratic institutions” and said he should remove Mr Goldsmith from his government post.
Shadow leader of the House of Commons Thangam Debbonaire said: “It’s yet another example of the prime minister’s weakness and failure to hold his own ministers to high standards that Zac Goldsmith is still a government minister.
“It’s time Rishi Sunak condemned his Conservative colleagues who have sought to override parliament’s standards system to get one of their own off the hook. He must accept the committee’s damming conclusions and make time for MPs to approve the report in full.”
Labour peer Lord Foulkes of Cumnock also raised concerns about the suitability of Lord Goldsmith’s appointment.
The Tory frontbencher had been due to present two statutory instruments to the upper chamber on Thursday, but instead this was carried out on his behalf by government whip Lord Davies of Gower.
Speaking in the Lords, former minister Lord Foulkes said: “Lord Goldsmith is one of the subjects of this report produced by the privileges committee. It is an extraordinary report the like of which I have never seen before.
“Lord Goldsmith, a minister of the House of Lords, is severely criticised by the privileges committee for interfering in the procedures of the House of Commons. In my 44 years in parliament I have never known such a criticism. It is astounding. What is happening to Lord Goldsmith? Is he able to, in the light of this criticism, to continue as a minister of the government?”
However, asked if he had confidence in Mr Goldsmith – who was handed a peerage by Mr Johnson after losing his seat as an MP in 2019, the prime minister’s spokesperson replied: “Yes.”
He also declined to say if Mr Sunak would vote for the report, which MPs are due to debate on 10 July.
Those named could face being suspended from parliament if MPs vote for the sanction.
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The privileges committee said the House of Commons should consider whether their actions could be considered a contempt of parliament and what further steps to take.
Asked what Mr Sunak will do, his spokesperson said: “You heard the prime minister give his view about the importance and the respect he has for the work of the committee.
“You’ve heard me say that their work should not be traduced and so we’ve talked about this on a number of occasions.
“The House will come to view on the privileges committee report on Monday. I’m not going to get ahead of the House coming to a view.”
