No 10 spending £130,000 of public money scrutinising Partygate inquiry

Boris Johnson accused of trying to intimidate and bully' inquiry into claims he misled MPs

• Politics live - latest updates

Boris Johnson has been accused of trying to intimidate and bully" an inquiry into claims he misled MPs over Downing Street parties, after No 10 took the highly unusual step of commissioning a senior QC to scrutinise the legal basis for the process at a public cost of almost 130,000.

The crossbench peer David Pannick had argued that the Commons committee on privileges and standards was proposing to adopt an unfair procedure" in examining allegations that Johnson falsely told the Commons he knew nothing about lockdown-breaking gatherings.