Downing Street disowns claim that inquiry into Partygate ‘lies’ will be ‘kangaroo court’

Allies of prime minister have mounted whispering campaign against probe – but foreign secretary calls for ‘trust’

Downing Street has disowned claims that a parliamentary inquiry into the Partygate scandal will be a “kangaroo court”, insisting that Boris Johnson trusts the cross-party committee to deliver a fair verdict.

However, a spokesperson for No 10 would not commit to the prime minister giving evidence to the inquiry in public and before the TV cameras, saying only that Downing Street would “assist” the committee in its work.

No 10 appeared to have mounted a whispering campaign against the crucial probe into whether the prime minister knowingly misled parliament, after it announced that whistleblowers can give anonymous evidence.