PM ‘warned several times’
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, clinging to power after two of his most senior Cabinet ministers quit, has apologised for keeping Chris Pincher in government, amid revelations that he was warned five times about the Tory deputy chief whip’s behaviour.
In a televised interview broadcast just minutes before Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak resigned yesterday, Johnson said he should have sacked Pincher after he was told about the sexual assault claims against him when he was a foreign 0ffice minister in 2019. Instead, he went on to appoint him to two other government roles.
Pincher resigned amid complaints that he had groped two men at a private club. This triggered questions about why Johnson promoted him to a senior job enforcing party discipline. Pincher denies the allegations.
The Times understands that Johnson was warned on five separate occasions about Pincher’s behaviour. The first was in 2019, when Pincher was put forward to be the chief whip. Johnson is said to have quipped: ‘‘Pinch by name, pinch by nature.’’
The second warning came in late 2019, after foreign office officials complained about Pincher’s
behaviour. A Cabinet Office ethics investigation ended without clearing Pincher.
Government sources told The Times that the issue came up a fourth time when Johnson reshuffled his government in 2020.
They said: ‘‘It was about staff being kept on late and a culture of drinking with the minister. The advice was that he should be moved before the situation escalated, and that is why he ended up being sent to housing.’’
Finally, sources said Pincher’s behaviour was raised during another reshuffle at the start of this year, when he was made deputy chief whip. His appointment was delayed while the cabinet office ethics team was asked to investigate.
Downing Street insisted yesterday that Johnson had forgotten about the previous warnings when asked about them by officials last week. This resulted in No 10 putting out misleading statements.
In a televised statement, Johnson
was unable to deny he had made the ‘‘Pinch by name, pinch by nature’’ comment.
‘‘If I had my time again, I would think back on it and recognise that he wasn’t going to learn a lesson and he wasn’t going to change, and I regret that.’’
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid resigned within minutes of each other yesterday, costing Johnson the support of the men responsible for tackling two of the biggest issues facing Britain – the cost-of-living crisis, and surging Covid-19 infections. Both cited Johnson’s credibility as a reason.
The debacle is the latest to hit Johnson, who last month narrowly survived a vote of no confidence triggered by shifting stories about lockdown-breaking parties in government offices.
Two weeks later, Conservative candidates were badly beaten in two by-elections to fill vacant seats in parliament, adding to the discontent within the Tories’ ranks.
In his letter of resignation, Javid said the confidence vote showed that a large number of Conservative Party MPs had lost trust in Johnson. Sunak echoed those sentiments.
Both Sunak and Javid are seen as possible contenders to replace Johnson if he is forced out.