Boris Johnson is facing accusations that he ignored warnings about alleged sexual misconduct from his former deputy chief whip, Chris Pincher, after a series of further allegations emerged about the MP.
The Prime Minister is under pressure to explain what he knew about Pincher’s behaviour, amid claims by former No 10 aide Dominic Cummings that Johnson called him “Pincher by name, pincher by nature”.
Pincher resigned as deputy chief whip on Thursday following allegations he drunkenly groped two men at a Piccadilly club. His whip was revoked following a report to Parliament’s independent complaints system.
Six more allegations of Pincher’s sexual behavior appeared in Sunday’s papers, including allegations of groping MPs. There was also a report that one Tory MP, Craig Whittaker, had resigned from the whips’ office when Pincher was promoted in February. Pincher denied the allegations.
Source #10 admitted that Johnson “probably” knew about general claims about Pincher and the nickname “Pincher by name etc” but claimed he was unable to look into “unsubstantiated rumours” before appointing him for Deputy Chief Whip in February.
Speaking to broadcasters, Therese Coffey, the work and pensions secretary, insisted Johnson was “not aware of specific allegations” about Pincher but could not deny he had been told about more general concerns.
Chris Pincher should lose Tory whip, says MP who watched pornography in Commons – video
She told Sky’s Sophie Ridge on Sunday’s programme: “I am aware that the Prime Minister was not aware of specific allegations that were made.”
Coffey, however, admitted that she had not spoken to the Prime Minister himself. She said she was told by the No. 10 press office that Johnson was not aware of any specific allegations.
In a statement over the weekend, Pincher said he respected the prime minister’s decision to scrap the whip. “As I said to the Prime Minister, I had too much to drink on Wednesday night, embarrassing myself and others, and I am truly sorry for the upset I caused,” he said.
“The stress of the past few days, on top of that of the past few months, has made me accept that I would benefit from professional medical attention.
“I am currently in the process of looking into this and hope to be able to return to my constituency duties as soon as possible.”
Coffey stressed that Pincher had been cleared of a previous investigation after Alex Storey, a former professional rower and Tory candidate, accused him of making unwanted passes and behaving like “Harvey Weinstein”.
Jonathan Reynolds, shadow business secretary, described Coffey’s responses as “desperate, frankly”.
“I think we have to recognize what the consistent problem is, and that is a Conservative party that has repeatedly chosen to do what is politically expedient over what is right,” he said.
“From what we know this morning, it is clear that Chris Pincher should never have been brought back into the whips’ office.”
Jess Phillips, a Labor MP and victims’ advocate, also highlighted the burden on victims of going through a formal complaints system and the lack of independence in party investigations.
“The whole system that relies on victims doing all the work to force people with all the power to do the right thing is a problem. It provides cover for politicians who know their colleagues’ behavior well to sit back and do nothing,” she said.
“Pincher was previously cleared by a fully independent investigation by the Conservative Party,” she said. “The same system that said Rob Roberts did nothing wrong either. The same system that returned the whip to Charlie Elphick and Andrew Griffiths.
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