Boris Johnson’s political future hangs in the balance after the former prime minister endured a three-hour grilling by MPs about the Partygate scandal.
Appearing before the cross-party privileges committee on Wednesday, Johnson said that “hand on heart, I did not lie to the House” about gatherings in Downing Street during Covid lockdowns that he insisted were “essential work events”. But the embattled ex-PM struggled to maintain his composure as he was quizzed by MPs including committee chair Harriet Harman, who accused Johnson of having relied on “flimsy” assurances from No. 10 officials that no rules were being broken.
If the committee concludes that the Tory’s former leader “intentionally or recklessly” misled Parliament, the resulting penalties could trigger a by-election in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency – potentially scuppering his chances of a return to power.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
This week marked three years since the then prime minister addressed the country to announce the first national lockdown as Britain battled to stop the spread of Covid-19.
To find out how closely you’ve been paying attention to the latest developments in the news and other global events, put your knowledge to the test with our Quiz of The Week
1. Which film star is on trial in Utah over a “hit and run” skiing accident?
Natalie Portman
Salma Hayek
Gwyneth Paltrow
Michelle Pfeiffer
2. Which country has been named the world’s happiest, for the sixth consecutive year?
Finland
Iceland
Sweden
Norway
3. Which animal is to be reintroduced to west London for the first time in 400 years?
Tundra vole
Pine marten
Beavers
Wild boar
4. New research suggests babies born in the wealthiest parts of London can expect to live for how much longer than those born in Glasgow?
4.5 years
6 years
9 years
12 years
5. Which Jilly Cooper novel is being turned into a Disney+ adaptation starring David Tennant and Danny Dyer?
Rivals
Riders
Polo
Mount!
6. What percentage of Brits suffer from a psychological condition known as misophonia, according to a new study?
5%
12%
15%
18%
7. Which sports governing body has banned transgender women from elite female competitions?
International Tennis Federation
World Athletics Council
Fifa (International Federation of Association Football)
World Professional Boxing Federation
8. How many times will media mogul Rupert Murdoch have been wed following his upcoming marriage to US radio personality Ann Lesley Smith?
Two
Three
Five
Six
9. Newly unearthed documents suggest a slave trafficked to Italy was the mother of which famous Renaissance figure?
Galileo Galilei
Niccolò Machiavelli
Michelangelo
Leonardo da Vinci
10. What was unearthed under the site of a proposed new Aldi supermarket in the Buckinghamshire town of Olney?
Medieval coin haul
Great Plague burial pit
Roman mosaic
Remains of Ice Age mammoth
1. Gwyneth Paltrow
The Oscar-winning actor is being sued by a man seeking $300,000 in compensation for injuries allegedly sustained when she crashed into him on a Utah ski slope in 2016. Paltrow claims retired optometrist Terry Sanderson collided with her and is countersuing for “a symbolic” $1 in damages.
2. Finland
Finland, Denmark and Iceland ranked highest in the UN’s World Happiness Report, based on data from the Gallup World Poll. Britain dropped two places to 19th in the index, while Lebanon and Afghanistan were named as the unhappiest nations.
3. Beavers
Eurasian beavers were hunted to extinction in Britain in the 16th century, but a breeding pair will be reintroduced to wetlands in Ealing this summer in a bid to help tackle climate change by promoting a biodiverse ecosystem.
4. 12 years
Glasgow has an average life expectancy of 76 years, compared with 88 in north London’s Hampstead area, according to an analysis of ONS data by Health Equals. The campaign group blamed “startling” regional disparities on substandard housing, poor education and poverty. Find out more with The Week Unwrapped podcast.
5. Rivals
The newly announced cast of the upcoming eight-part series – set in the cut-throat world of independent television in 1980s England – also includes Aidan Turner, Claire Rushbrook, Oliver Chris and Emily Atack.
6. 18%
Sounds such as chewing, sniffing and loud breathing are intolerable for one in five Brits, the study found. Researchers from King’s College London and Oxford University quizzed more than 770 people to determine how many had a fight-or-flight response to such everyday noises.
7. World Athletics Council
The ban, which comes into effect on 31 March, applies to transgender women who have undergone male puberty. The governing body’s president, Seb Coe, said the controversial decision had been taken to “protect the future of the female category”.
8. Five
The 92-year-old billionaire met Smith, 66, at his at his Bel Air vineyard last September, less than a year after his divorce from fourth wife Jerry Hall was finalised.
9. Leonardo da Vinci
Carlo Vecce, a professor from Naples, discovered documents in the archives of Florence which show that shortly after the artist’s birth, his father freed a slave called Caterina – widely agreed to be the name of Da Vinci’s mother but about whom little else is known.
10. Roman mosaic
“You’ll be surprised at what you can get at Aldi,” said The Times, which listed “groceries, power drills, inflatables, sewing machines” and a “Roman mosaic”. The “archaeologically significant” discovery points to the existence of a high-status Roman house, or domus.
Explore More
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Sorcha Bradley is a writer at The Week and a regular on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast. She worked at The Week magazine for a year and a half before taking up her current role with the digital team, where she mostly covers UK current affairs and politics. Before joining The Week, Sorcha worked at slow-news start-up Tortoise Media. She has also written for Sky News, The Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard and Grazia magazine, among other publications. She has a master’s in newspaper journalism from City, University of London, where she specialised in political journalism.
The history of Donald Trump's election conspiracy theories
Two ancient cities have been discovered along the Silk Road
'People shouldn't have to share the road with impaired drivers'
Quiz of The Week: 26 October - 1 November
Quiz of The Week: 19 - 25 October
Quiz of The Week: 12 - 18 October
Quiz of The Week: 5 - 11 October
Quiz of The Week: 28 September - 4 October
Quiz of The Week: 21 - 27 September
Quiz of The Week: 14 - 20 September
Quiz of The Week: 7 - 13 September
