While Mr Johnson was taking witness statements, Downing Street elected to publish Mr. Sunak’s tax returns which showed he paid just over £1m in tax on almost £4.8m in income – an effective rate of 22 per cent.
Towards the end of a grueling committee session, Mr Johnson doubted he would accept that the inquiry had been fair if it ended against him, saying he would “wait and see”.
The televised hearing was the culmination of a nearly year-long investigation into whether Mr Johnson had deliberately misled MPs when he denied Covid rules were being broken at partygate events.
In one of the most heated moments, Mr Johnson firmly pushed back on the suggestion that he should have sought assurances about rule-breaking from senior Downing Street officials.
“This is complete nonsense, I mean, complete nonsense. I have asked the relevant people. They were high-ranking people. They had worked very hard,” he said of one event.
After swearing on a King James Bible to tell the truth, Mr. Johnson did it an opening sentence who categorically rejected the suggestion that he had misled the Commons.
The former prime minister said of denials he issued when partygate media reports first emerged: “I am here to tell you hand on heart that I have not lied to the House.
“When those statements were made, they were made in good faith and based on what I honestly knew and believed at the time.”