Top Tory suspended for Labour collusion
VETERAN Tory Julian Lewis had the whip removed last night after he was accused of working with opposition MPs to secure the chairmanship of the intelligence and security committee.
his appointment as chairman, by secret ballot, came as a surprise, with No 10 favourite Chris Grayling expected to win the post.
There had been suggestions the Tory members on the Conservative-dominated committee had been ‘whipped’ to vote for former Cabinet minister Mr Grayling.
But he and No 10 were blindsided after Dr Lewis won the post over the MP nicknamed ‘Failing Grayling’ due to his chequered Cabinet career.
Last night, Dr Lewis had the whip removed, meaning he can no longer sit as a Tory MP. A Government source said: ‘There are consequences for that duplicity.’ Dr Lewis will now sit as an independent, so the Tory majority is down to 79.
A senior Tory source said Mr Lewis had originally told Chief Whip Mark Spencer he was happy to support Mr Grayling for the chairmanship.
‘At no point did he indicate he was considering running himself,’ the source said. ‘Instead he colluded secretly with Labour to promote his own interests. It was deeply disrespectful.’
Dr Lewis will stay as committee chairman for now.
The decision to remove Dr Lewis’s whip is expected to go down badly with Tory MPs as he is a respected veteran member of the party who previously chaired the defence committee. One senior Tory said the decision was ‘ absurd and outrageous’, adding: ‘It may have been poor form from Julian but it’s not a sacking offence. Removing the whip should be reserved for serial disloyalty, not standing for an election.’
Boris Johnson was widely believed to have wanted Mr Grayling to be the chairman of the committee, which oversees the work of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, and is due to publish a longawaited report into Russian interference in UK politics.
Mr Grayling, who hadn’t expected to be opposed, was said to be surprised by the challenge and then the result.
Downing Street had previously insisted that the chairman was a matter for the committee, but reacted with fury after accusing Dr Lewis of colluding with the opposition.
Former national security adviser Lord Ricketts had warned that Mr Grayling did not ‘match up’ to the authority and reputation of former chairmen.
Following Dr Lewis’s success, Lord Ricketts said the body was in the ‘hands of someone with
‘Absurd and outrageous’
much wider experience of defence and security’.
As well as Mr Grayling and Dr Lewis, the committee members are Tory MPs Theresa Villiers, Sir John hayes and Mark Pritchard, Labour MPs Dame Diana Johnson and Kevan Jones, Labour peer Admiral Lord West and SNP MP Stewart hosie.
Mr Johnson has faced criticism over the delay in appointing the committee which has not met since last November.