Johnson Vote & EU Referendum

Welcome back to another edition of Heaver News! I hope you are all enjoying the sun.

Stuart Mitchell/@IncMonocle

Whack! The Privileges Committee report’s verdict on Boris Johnson was brutal and would have recommended a 90-day suspension had Johnson still been an MP.

They are also recommending that the former PM not even be given a former MP’s pass.

It all seems rather over the top. I still think it was a massive mistake for Johnson not to call a snap election, allowing voters to decide his fate instead.

Instead MPs will get to vote on this report on Monday, with some pro-Boris Tories already making it crystal clear that they intend to vote against it.

Bassetlaw MP Brendan Clarke-Smith for instance has said:

“I am appalled at what I have read and the spiteful, vindictive and overreaching conclusions of the report.

“I won’t be supporting the recommendations and will be speaking against them both publicly and in the House on Monday. I’m backing fairness and justice - not kangaroo courts.”

Of course those who already hated Boris Johnson’s guts will be delighted that he’s been banished without having to defeat him at an election.

But I suspect the end outcome of all this is that many Conservative voters and members will feel the action against Johnson is vindictive. That makes a potential return more viable.

As ever I’m interested in what the public make of all of this - and the findings are really telling.