Boris Johnson continues to face serious questions about his judgement in appointing Chris Pincher as his deputy chief whip in February. Pincher, forced to resign last week after being accused of groping two men at a private members' club for Tories in central London, is now the subject of six separate misconduct allegations stretching back for years, all of which he denies. The case has also increased concerns for victims as our investigation shows parliament's misconduct watchdog, responsible for looking into such complaints, is in some cases taking up to two years to reach its conclusions.
Despite Johnson reportedly referring to him as "Pincher by name, pincher by nature", No 10 (which didn't deny the story) is sticking to the line that the PM wasn't aware of any "specific" complaints against the Tamworth MP, who had the Conservative Party whip removed on Friday and faces mounting pressure to quit his seat. This is despite Pincher resigning from the whips' office in 2017 for making an inappropriate advance towards the Conservative Party candidate, Alex Story. Downing Street says the Cabinet Office ethics and propriety team did not raise any concerns.
That line, one which feels like it will come back to haunt the PM, was toed – albeit uncomfortably – by Thérèse Coffey, the work and pensions secretary, out on the broadcast round yesterday in a series of excruciating Sunday morning interviews. Coffey looked and sounded very much like she didn't believe a word of what the No 10 press office had told her as she stressted, "to the best of my knowledge", the boss wasn't aware of any specific claims.
Looking to ramp up the pressure, Labour was written to Johnson asking him to confirm exactly what he knew about Pincher and when. "Only Boris Johnson could have looked at this guy's record and thought 'he deserves a promotion'". Anneliese Dodds, the party's chairwoman said. Labour is also demanding to know why it took the best part of 24 hours for Pincher to have the party whip removed.
If Johnson, desperate to avoid another byelection after two damaging defeats in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton, was hoping that the latest scandal to engulf his premiership and raise questions about his judgement would simply blow over, then he will be sorely disappointed this morning.
The story dominated the agenda over the weekend and does so again this morning, splashing several major outlets, including the The Times, which reports that the Pincher case is revitalising rebel efforts to oust Johnson from office. The Telegraph says the issue has sparked a backlash inside the cabinet, with sources close to three ministers saying they were unhappy with Pincher being given a promotion for his work to help sore up the Johnson's position amid the Partygate scandal.
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