Education Secretary Will Queens says he received “categorical assurance” from Number 10 that Boris Johnson was “not aware of any serious specific allegations” against his disgraced former deputy chief whip, Chris Pincher, when he was appointed.
Mr Pincher quit the role last week after he was accused of drunkenly groping two men at a private members’ club in London on Wednesday.
The Tory whip was only removed from him on Friday afternoon – meaning he is now an independent MP.
It was the second time the MP for Tamworth in Staffordshire resigned from the whips’ office after Conservative candidate Alex Storey accused him of inappropriate advances in 2017.
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But questions have been raised about what the prime minister knew before appointing Mr Pincher in February, with claims Mr Johnson had called the MP “Pincher by name, pincher by nature” beforehand.
Labor leader Annelise Dodds has written to the prime minister demanding answers, claiming Mr Johnson is “apparently happy to sweep sexual misconduct under the carpet to save his own skin”.
Speaking to Sky News’ Kay Burley, Mr Quince said it was a “fair question” to ask what the Prime Minister knew and one he had put to No 10 “hard and clear” before he went on air.
He added: “I have received categorical assurances that the Prime Minister was not aware of any serious specific allegations regarding the former Deputy Chief.
But Labour’s Jenny Chapman said she found it “impossible to believe” that the Prime Minister was unaware of any allegations as there were “widespread rumours” about Mr Pincher’s behavior at Westminster.
“These things were well known,” she told Kay Burley. “What kind of person decides what we do with that person [is] give it a really big promotion?
“That’s what Boris Johnson did. And he did it because it’s his partner and we think that’s wrong.”
Image: Chris Pincher was appointed deputy chief whip in February but resigned last week after being accused of drunk driving two men
Mr Queens said the allegations against Mr Pincher were “shocking and appalling” and had caused “immense damage to the reputation and credibility of Parliament”.
He also said it was important to “call out” such behaviour, urging other people affected to come forward and “if the allegation is serious, of course I would encourage people to go to the police”.
Mr Pincher is now being investigated by Parliament’s Independent Complaints and Grievances Scheme.
He said he was seeking “professional medical support” and hoped to return to represent his constituents “as soon as possible”.
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