FORMER UK PRIME Minister Boris Johnson’s defence against claims he lied to the British parliament over the partygate scandal is expected to be published today as he prepares for a showdown with MPs.

The Privileges Committee is due to publish the lengthy submission from Johnson’s barrister David Philip Pannick KC before the former prime minister gives evidence on Wednesday in a session which could decide his political future.

An estimated £220,000 of taxpayers’ money has been allocated for Johnson’s legal bills and allies insisted he expected his position to be “vindicated” after submitting a “detailed and compelling” account of his case.

The seven-member Privileges Committee, chaired by Labour’s Harriet Harman but with a Tory majority, will decide whether Johnson misled the Commons with his denials of lockdown rule-breaking in No 10 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

If the MPs believe he did mislead the House, they will consider whether it was “reckless or intentional” and amounted to a contempt of Parliament.

His lawyers have already queried the process being used by the Privileges Committee, including pushing for him to be legally represented at the hearing, arguing for a higher standard of proof than the balance of probabilities, and suggesting he must be shown to have intended to mislead Parliament for a contempt to have occurred.

After an interim report by the committee earlier this month said evidence strongly suggested breaches of coronavirus rules would have been “obvious” to the then-prime minister, Johnson claimed it was “clear” that he had not committed a contempt of Parliament.

He said there was “no evidence in the report that I knowingly or recklessly misled Parliament” or failed to update it in a timely manner.

Johnson has sought to cast doubt on the findings of Sue Gray’s report on partygate, after she quit the civil service because she intends to take up a role as Labour leader Keir Starmer’s chief of staff.

Allies of Johnson claim that, despite his insistence he will be vindicated, the process against him could amount to a “witch hunt”.

They have also sought to cast doubt on the impartiality of Harriet Harman after a social media post last year indicated she believed Johnson had misled Parliament.

Former minister Conor Burns, an ally of Johnson, said: “Boris Johnson’s contention is that what he told the House of Commons was, to the best information supplied to him, true when he told that to Parliament, and I welcome the fact that he is going to bring forward evidence to back up that.

“It’s not unusual, anyone who has appeared as a minister in the House of Commons knows that you rely very heavily on briefing that you’re given.”

On BBC Radio 4’s Westminster Hour he added: “I rate Harriet Harman highly, but she did tweet in April 2022 that if (Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak) admit guilt, by which she said was accepting a fixed penalty notice, then they are also admitting that they misled the House of Commons.

“Boris Johnson contests that, but it seems to me the person who is chairing this committee has predetermined it and that causes me a degree of anxiety for Parliament’s reputation in handling this with integrity.”

Burns, who spoke to Johnson yesterday afternoon, said: “He is looking forward to the opportunity of getting his case out there, to putting his case to the committee on Wednesday, to answering their questions.”

A spokesman for Mr Johnson said: “The Privileges Committee will vindicate Boris Johnson’s position.

“The evidence will show that Boris Johnson did not knowingly mislead Parliament.”

The Privileges Committee is examining evidence around at least four occasions when Mr Johnson may have misled MPs with his assurances to the Commons that lockdown rules were followed.

He is expected to highlight previously undisclosed WhatsApp messages from senior civil servants and members of his No 10 team showing he had relied on their advice when he made his statements to Parliament.

He will also publish messages which show other senior figures in Downing Street believed the gatherings were covered by the “workplace exemption” in the lockdown rules.

The committee will publish its findings on whether Johnson committed a contempt of Parliament and make a recommendation on any punishment but the ultimate decision will fall to the full House of Commons.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said he will not seek to influence MPs on the committee and is expected to grant a free vote in the Commons on any sanction that may be recommended.

A suspension of 10 sitting days or more for Johnson could ultimately trigger a by-election in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat, which he held with a majority of 7,210 in 2019.