How Tories suicidally made crisis from a drama

Mid-morning at a rented holiday villa in italy yesterday, and Boris Johnson was about to take a cooling dip when his mobile rang. recognising the number of a trusted aide, he broke off to answer it.

The conversation was brief, to the point, and when it ended, a clearly relaxed Johnson dived into the pool and continued with his daily constitutional.

minutes later, after every Tory mP had received an astonishing text message from party HQ, it was evident what had been discussed during the call: Johnson was being subjected to a formal disciplinary investigation.

The decision was taken on Wednesday by Brandon Lewis, Tory party chairman. in his eyes Johnson’s ‘crime’ is, of course, refusing to apologise for writing in his daily Telegraph column on monday that women wearing burkas look like ‘letter boxes’ and ‘bank robbers’.

The article prompted widespread outrage from the usual suspects, particularly the Left, and from Boris’s many detractors among Conservative and Labour remainer mPs, with allegations flying that the former foreign secretary is guilty of encouraging ‘hate crime’ and racism. Lewis had been calling for an apology since Tuesday.

For the majority of the public, however, the row is an issue of free speech and polls suggest Johnson, who in his column had argued fiercely against a burka ban as introduced by France, denmark, and Belgium, has widespread support.

now, by deciding to pursue Johnson, Lewis has re-ignited a political controversy that would, by the end of this week, quite possibly have run out of steam.

in doing so, he has delivered a gift to Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party which had been on the rack for more than two weeks over claims of wide spread anti-Semitism in its ranks.

As one despairing former Tory minister told me: ‘Yet again the Tory Party is showing its unerring knack for selfdestruction. By setting up an inquiry into a couple of poor-taste Boris jokes about burkas, they are turning him into a martyr to political correctness. The lunatics truly are in control of the asylum.’ Lewis’s aides insist he had no choice but to act after receiving written complaints. But of course Lewis had a choice.

While Tory HQ refuse to say how many complaints there were, or who they were from, there is a question mark about how seriously they should be taken.

Some are from Labour supporters, others from those who will never forgive Johnson for his pivotal role in delivering Brexit in the referendum. Among them are arch-remoaners Anna Soubry and dominic grieve, who led the Tory revolt on Brexit in the Commons last month.

Scottish Tory leader ruth davidson has made no secret of her loathing of Johnson either, while ex-Tory party chairman, Baroness Warsi – who has said his remarks are ‘indefensible’ – has been at odds with the leadership since she was demoted in 2012. All are increasingly desperate to wreck Johnson’s chances of replacing an embattled Theresa may.

Which is why the real trigger for yesterday’s over-the-top reaction to Johnson’s column was last week’s poll of Conservative activists, which saw Johnson soar from fifth to first with a commanding ten-point lead over his rivals as to who they want as next party leader.

if Johnson is disciplined, the party board could withdraw the whip or even expel him for defying his leader, which would exclude him from any leadership contest. So is Lewis doing their dirty work – with one eye on the leadership for himself? it’s certainly no secret that he harbours ambitions on that front.

What’s more Lewis, the MP for great Yarmouth – which voted 69 per cent in favour of Leave – voted remain himself.

initially, it was reported yesterday that Johnson would answer to a three-strong panel chaired by a QC or retired judge under a recently updated Tory Party code of conduct. But the panel would have been selected by Lewis in what was a blatant conflict of interest, given that he had already delivered his own guilty verdict on Johnson by demanding he apologise as early as Tuesday.

So in a rapid about-turn, Lewis withdrew from the panel selection – but his influence is pervasive.

NOWit seems Johnson’s alleged crimes will first be looked at by the party’s investigations officer, a Tory employee, appointed by Lewis. He also answers to Lewis. if a panel is then set up, its members have the power to recommend only whether there has been a ‘potential’ breach of the code of conduct. So who would decide if Johnson was guilty? The board of the Conservative Party made up of volunteers, mPs and officials – and chaired by one Brandon Lewis.

no wonder no10 is scurrying to distance the Pm from the latest Pr disaster to engulf her battered administration. She hasn’t helped matters by agreeing with Lewis that Johnson should apologise. in her defence, a downing Street source said: ‘The Pm was put on the spot by journalists. She could not be seen to contradict her party chairman.’

But a more skilful Pm could just as easily have side-stepped the question.

Let’s hope the Tories have good lawyers in place because, i can reveal, Johnson will be represented at any disciplinary hearing by his formidable wife, marina Wheeler, an accomplished human rights barrister who stiffened his resolve to support Leave in the referendum.

As the Tory Party HQ tried to dismiss allegations that their real aim was to capsize Johnson’s leadership ambitions yesterday, the flaxen haired pretender to the Tory crown was swimming up and down the pool with a broad grin on his face, firmly in the political spotlight for a fourth day in succession – and leaving his rivals trailing in his wake.