Johnson has always said he did not knowingly lie when he said no Covid rules were broken in Downing Street.
But the committee, led by veteran Labour MP Harriet Harman, will simply rule on whether the prime minister misled the House, intentionally or unintentionally.
If he is found guilty, Johnson could face a by-election in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat which might see him voted out of parliament.
Dorries, Johnson’s closest cabinet ally, tweeted on Sunday: “If this witch hunt continues, it will be the most egregious abuse of power witnessed in Westminster.
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“It will cast serious doubt not only on the reputation of individual MPs sitting on the committee, but on the processes of parliament and democracy itself.”
Labour MP Chris Bryant replied: “Let’s talk about abuse of power such as illegally suspending parliament or doling out peerages to donors or tearing up the rules to protect Owen Paterson.
“The real abuse of power would be suspending an inquiry to protect your mate.”
Bryant is the usual chair of the privileges committee, but stood aside for the partygate inquiry given his past criticisms of Johnson.
The committee intends to call the PM to give oral evidence in public in the autumn, under oath.
The committee has already said that whistle-blowers will be able to give evidence about the prime minister anonymously.
Johnson has also been ordered to hand over a cache of documents to the MPs, including diaries, photographs and deleted documents.
The former BBC Breakfast host was one of the stars of last year’s series, and made it through to the quarter-finals.
With the celebrity announcements for the upcoming 20th series now underway, Dan has shot down anyone criticising the show’s star bookings.
“Will never get my head around the ‘never heard of them’ crew when you see someone announced on Strictly who you don’t know much about,” he tweeted on Saturday.
“Get on Google, learn a bit about them. Looking forward to seeing the full set of this year’s bunch.”
He was met with more than his share of backlash during last year’s run when he and his professional partner Nadiya Bychkova kept evading the dance-off, despite repeatedly coming in at the bottom of the leaderboard.
After Nicola Adams and Katya Jones competed together in 2020, John was part of Strictly’s first ever pairing made up of two men during last year’s run, alongside Johannes Radebe.
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The Great British Bake Off winner proved popular with viewers, making it all the way to the final where he and Johannes finished in second place behind champions Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice.
After the announcement that Radio 2 presenter Richie will also dance with a male professional on this year’s series, John shared a poignant statement on his Instagram story on Saturday morning.
John and Johannes dancing during last year’s Strictly final
Guy Levy/BBC via PA Media
“I’m so bloody pleased that Strictly are doing a male-male couple again this year and hope it is the case every year from now on,” John wrote.
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“It has to be. Because queer-inclusion isn’t a box-ticking exercise for one series, it’s a fundamental shift in the narrative for life.”
John went on thank Strictly’s behind-the-scenes team for “continuing to include the outcasts” before wishing “all the love and luck” to Richie who he said was “going to love every second”.
A screenshot of John’s Instagram post
Instagram/John Whaite
Apparently, John’s former professional partner Johannes was also feeling nostalgic at the weekend, writing on his own Instagram: “Now that Strictly rehearsals have started, I’ve been thinking back to last year when I had the pleasure of meeting [John].
“I can’t believe it’s been a year since John came into my life and what a fabulous and truly special Strictly journey we had. There were moments during the show which took my breath away, including the overwhelming support we received. I can’t thank everybody enough for the kind comments and for taking the time to vote. It means so so much.
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“Not only is John an amazing dancer, he is an incredible friend and I can’t imagine a life without him in it.”
He added: “Although my strictly journey with John has come to a close, I’m feeling the energy and magic of the show again and I am looking forward to the next Strictly chapter and the excitement and challenges this will bring. I cannot wait, let the adventure begin!”
John then commented: “You bugger – you’ve made me cry into my avocado on toast… love you.”
The Strictly Come Dancing celebrity reveals are now coming in thick and fast as we gear up for the show’s return to our screens next month.
If you’re struggling to keep up with all the individual announcements about who will be taking to the floor this year, we’ve got you covered.
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Get to know all of the confirmed stars so far below…
Will Mellor
Actor Will is known for starring roles in Hollyoaks, Two Pints of Lager And A Packet of Crisps, Line Of Duty and Broadchurch. Most recently he appeared in Coronation Street as Harvey Gaskell.
He says: “I’m honestly so chuffed to be taking part in Strictly Come Dancing this year! Not going to lie, it’s totally out of my comfort zone and I know it will be a huge challenge but that’s what life is all about.
“This is also my mum’s favourite show and she’s had a really tough few years so I’m doing this is for her as well. Bring it on!”
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Kym is perhaps best known for her role of Michelle Connor in Coronation Street, which she appeared in from 2006 to 2019.
She shot to fame in the band Hear’Say, which was formed on the reality show Popstars in 2000, and is currently a presenter on BBC One’s Morning Live.
She says: “I’ve considered doing Strictly for years but the timings never worked out. I’m so delighted that this year they have!
“I’m a huge fan of the show and can’t believe I’m going to go from watching at home in my pyjamas to actually dancing in front of the judges in a glittery dress, it’s unreal!”
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Richie Anderson
Radio 2 listeners will recognise Richie for his well-established role on BBC Radio 2’s Breakfast Show, presenting the travel bulletins. He is also a regular on The One Show and hosted parts of the Platinum Jubilee coverage for the BBC.
He says: “This is a dream come true! I cannot wait to get in those sparkles and sequins and shimmy across the most famous dance floor in the world! Strictly is the ultimate feel good show, as soon as I hear that iconic theme tune it’s just pure escapism.
“I’m going to have to cancel my legendary Strictly launch night kitchen party that I throw every year, I’m sure my friends and family will understand.
“It’s also a massive honour to be part of an all-male dance partnership, it’s so important we have that inclusion on such a huge show.”
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Kaye Adams
Kaye has been a regular anchor and panellist on ITV’s Loose Women on-and-off since its inception in 1999. She also hosts the morning show on BBC Radio Scotland.
She says: “I said I wanted to make the last year of my fifties memorable and i can’t think of a better way of doing it than showing the world my two left feet. Pray for me!”
Jayde Adams
Best known as an award-winning stand-up comedian, Jayde also has acting credits in Good Omens, Alma’s Not Normal and the upcoming Take That film Greatest Days.
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She’s also a self-professed Strictly superfan, admitting: “Since I watched the first series in 2004, I feel like every step I’ve taken in my career over the last 11 years was to be on Strictly.
“I’ve always watched it,” she adds. “Apart from a brief hiatus in 2011 as I was relentlessly gigging every weekend (to try and get on Strictly).”
Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One in the autumn.
The UK’s political landscape in April 2022 was a starkly different place for Rishi Sunak.
He was a chancellor who had enjoyed unusual popularity thanks to his support for workers during the pandemic only to be plunged into an unenviable position.
The country was facing the devastating economic fallout of Covid-19, Vladimir Putin had invaded Ukraine and the biggest squeeze on living standards since records began loomed large.
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Tables were turning on the chancellor who was criticised for not doing enough to support the poorest in his Spring statement.
So it was little wonder that when he went all “crypto bro” on us in April, the government was accused of being “out of touch”.
While millions were struggling financially, Sunak announced measures for the notoriously unregulated cryptocurrency sector, which features incredibly volatile currencies.
“It’s my ambition to make the UK a global hub for cryptoasset technology,” he said.
The statement piece of the announcement was that Sunak had instructed the 1,136-year-old Royal Mint to issue a trendy non-fungible token by the summer.
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NFTs can be anything digital such as a drawing or music but each one is a unique “one of a kind” asset – rather like a famous painting.
Damien Hirst and Bella Hadid are among the celebrities venturing into the NFT world.
They are stored on a blockchain – the same decentralised ledger of transactions used to buy and sell cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.
The crypto-phenomenon has proved fashionable with celebrities, most recently supermodel Bella Hadid joined the metaverse with an NFT collection called CY-B3LLA – featuring artworks based on 3D scans of her body.
Artist Damien Hirst is also dabbling in NFTs, announcing he will burn thousands of his paintings as part of his year-long NFT project, titled The Currency.
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Buyers who purchased one of the 10,000 NFTs for £1,600 each have been asked to choose whether to keep it or trade it for the physical work. If the former, the painting will now be exhibited before being burned.
However, critics of NFTs say the tokens are fundamentally valueless, unregulated and that fraud and scams are a risk.
Given the huge number of computers needed to continuously run for a blockchain to function, they argue NFTs are also bad for the environment.
Since the Treasury’s announcement there has been a major crash in cryptocurrencies and Sunak walked out of the government along with other key backers.
Sunak is now locked in a battle with foreign secretary Liz Truss to become the next Tory leader and prime minister. His team have been approached for comment.
The “Bored Ape” collection of digital images is perhaps the most well-known, having been bought and traded by celebrities for tens of thousands of dollars.
Noam Galai via Getty Images
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The Treasury originally said the NFT would be issued this summer, but next to nothing has been said about the initiative.
Four months since it was announced, the public is none the wiser.
Details of the project remain largely unknown and the government has never specified what image or object the Royal Mint’s NFT would confer ownership of.
But there is a new Treasury team in town, led by former vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi, so HuffPost UK sent them a slew of questions about the NFT.
We also submitted a Freedom of Information request, asking how much taxpayers’ cash was being spent on the project.
The Treasury FoI team confirmed they held the information but refused to divulge how much they were spending on the NFT.
They said the plans were still “under development” and that ministers and officials “need space” in which plans can be refined.
Meanwhile, the Treasury’s press office remained coy about the plans, insisting they were still going ahead but unable to confirm when.
A Treasury source said it was still their “intention” to issue an NFT this summer but was unable to be more specific.
Labour’s shadow economic secretary to the Treasury Tulip Siddiq accused the government of “wasting time and money on an NFT gimmick”.
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She said the Conservatives should “come clean” about how much taxpayers’ money had been “thrown down the drain” and described the lack of transparency as “shocking”.
“With the value of crypto currencies in freefall, the government must ditch its lax attitude to crypto regulation and introduce a comprehensive regulatory regime for the sector,” she said.
“The Conservative’s wild west approach to crypto has put millions of people’s savings at risk and crypto-related crime in the UK – such as fraud and money laundering – is now at record levels.”
She also said that without proper regulation the UK was at risk of falling behind global competitors in FinTech such as the EU and US.
The Royal Mint remained tight-lipped saying they were “continuing” to develop their first NFT range and would share further details in “due course”.
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They did not answer a question about when it would launch.
Tulip Siddiq MP: “Instead of properly regulating the crypto sector to protect consumers and crack down on criminals, this incompetent government is wasting time and money on an NFT gimmick.”
House of Commons via PA Wire/PA Images
It comes after Crypto experienced one of the worst market crashes the new industry had ever witnessed – which saw popular currency bitcoin plummeting.
In a speech last month, Bank of England deputy Governor Sir Jon Cunliffe said the majority of crypto-tokens have “no intrinsic value” and are “inherently volatile, very vulnerable to sentiment and prone to collapse”.
However, the Treasury confirmed it was still “firmly committed” to its plans to create an NFT.
A Treasury spokesperson said: “We are firmly committed to putting the UK at the forefront of cryptoasset technology and innovation by capitalising on the freedoms gained by leaving the European Union.
“Our framework will support the safe adoption of crypto whilst giving regulators the agility to respond to market developments, support innovation and protect consumers.
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“Our forthcoming Financial Services and Markets Bill will set up the framework for regulating stablecoins in the UK and we will be consulting on a world-leading regime for the rest of the crypto market later this year.”
