Boris Johnson is under growing pressure over his decision to give Chris Pincher a ministerial role and has been accused of turning a blind eye to allegations surrounding his deputy chief whip.
Mr Pincher quit his senior post after being accused of drunkenly groping two men at a private members’ club in London. He was later suspended as a Conservative MP. And as more allegations of unwanted passes and groping emerged in newspapers this (Sunday) morning, it was disclosed by The Telegraph that the Prime Minister’s decision to appoint Mr Pincher in February had prompted the resignation of Craig Whittaker, another senior whip.
According to The Telegraph, the Prime Minister has been accused of turning a blind eye to claims of his deputy chief whip’s alleged sexual misconduct. It reported a senior government source had said: "There was considerable ill feeling in the whips’ office about Pincher’s appointment.”
Mr Johnson only bowed to pressure to remove the whip from one of his most ardent supporters after an official investigation was instigated. For the time being Mr Pincher would take his seat in the Commons as an independent MP.
The Prime Minister was also facing questions over how much he knew about Mr Pincher’s behaviour when he made him deputy chief whip in February. Dominic Cummings, his former adviser, said Mr Johnson had referred to the MP “laughingly in No 10 as ‘Pincher by name, pincher by nature’ long before appointing him”.
The fresh allegations emerged as Mr Pincher said he was seeking “professional medical support” and hoped to return to represent his constituents in Staffordshire “as soon as possible”. However, the Mail on Sunday today alleged that he had threatened to report a parliamentary researcher to her boss after she tried to halt his “lecherous” advances to a young man at a Tory party conference.
The Sunday Times weighed in with allegations that he made unwanted passes at two Conservative MPs in 2017 and 2018, after his first resignation as a whip over claims he made unwanted advances to Alex Story, an Olympic rower and Conservative candidate.
One of the latest alleged victims spoke of his anger at the Prime Minister over his handling of the incident at the exclusive Carlton Club in London on Wednesday. The man told the Sunday Times that he initially did not want to report the incident, thinking “this is something that happens in Westminster”.
But he added: “I am angered by the fact that I should feel like that, and even more angry by the way No 10 have dealt with it . . . I am furious. I know it sounds really silly but I felt shell-shocked when I found out they were initially going to let him keep the whip.”
Mr Pincher did not respond to requests for comment on the latest allegations, but the newspapers behind them said that he had denied the claims. It followed allegations made on Saturday night – all denied by Mr Pincher – that three Tory MPs had been subject to unwanted passes or groping.
One accuser said he was “shell-shocked” by the decision not to immediately kick the MP for Tamworth out of the parliamentary party. Downing Street has not denied that there had been concerns about Mr Pincher before his appointment, but insisted Mr Johnson “was not aware of any specific allegations”.
The Prime Minister initially resisted calls to remove the whip until Parliament’s Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme launched an investigation on Friday. In a statement, Mr Pincher said he would “co-operate fully” with the investigation.
“As I told the Prime Minister, I drank far too much on Wednesday night, embarrassing myself and others, and I am truly sorry for the upset I caused,” he said. “The stresses of the last few days, coming on top of those over the last several months, have made me accept that I will benefit from professional medical support. “I am in the process of seeking that now, and I hope to be able to return to my constituency duties as soon as possible.”
The latest allegations came after the Tories were hit by a series of scandals relating to sexual misconduct. In May, Neil Parish quit as MP for Tiverton and Honiton after admitting viewing pornography in the Commons chamber. In April then-Wakefield MP Imran Ahmad Khan was jailed for 18 months for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy. In both cases, the Conservatives lost the resulting by-elections. A third unnamed Tory MP has been told by whips to stay away from Parliament after being arrested on suspicion of rape and other offences.
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