Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
AT LAST: ’GROPING’ TORY SUSPENDED
Anger at PM delay as Pincher faces calls to quit as MP over club shame
The party and Government are at risk of serious reputational damage
SHAMED Tory Chris Pincher is under pressure to quit as an MP after Prime Minister Boris Johnson finally withdrew the party whip last night over groping allegations.
Mr Pincher, who resigned as Deputy Chief Whip on Thursday amid claims he had groped two men at the Carlton Club, is in effect suspended from the Tory Party and is now an independent MP until the whip is restored.
Mr Johnson, who had resisted calls to remove the whip, acted after a formal complaint about Mr Pincher was made to a Parliamentary watchdog.
Tory and Labour MPS questioned why Johnson had taken so long to act.
Labour Deputy Leader Angela Rayner said the PM was “dragged kicking and screaming into taking any action at all”.
She said: “He can’t be trusted to do the right thing. This whole scandal is more evidence of his appalling judgment.”
Former Tory Party leader
Lord Hague said: “I would have liked to have seen that announcement earlier.
“So there wouldn’t have been a whole day of everybody speculating. We have to be rigorous. It’s really important to uphold high standards in public life. Consistency requires suspension of the whip.”
Tory MPS Caroline Nokes and Karen Bradley demanded a policy of “zero tolerance” of sexual misconduct in a letter to the PM.
They wrote: “The party and, by extension, the Government are at risk of serious reputational damage by the current approach.” Mr Pincher, MP for Tamworth, Staffordshire, is being investigated by the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme.
In his letter resigning as Deputy Chief Whip, Mr Pincher pinned the blame on alcohol. He wrote: “Last night I drank far too much. I’ve embarrassed myself.”
A spokeswoman for Chief Whip Chris Heaton-harris said: “Having heard that a formal complaint has been made to the ICGS, the PM has agreed with the Chief Whip that the whip should be suspended from Chris Pincher while the investigation is ongoing.”
If Mr Pincher steps down as an MP, it will trigger a by-election in his seat, which has a Tory majority of 20,000. Neil
Parish, who quit for watching porn in the Commons, had a 24,000 majority in Tiverton and Honiton, which the Tories lost.
In Tamworth, voters called on Mr Pincher to go. Gill Lloyd, 64, said: “I’m not sure I want someone like that associated with Tamworth.”
Kelly Tolhurst, MP for Rochester and Strood, is the new Deputy Chief Whip.
In 2017, Mr Pincher quit the whips office after a complaint that he made an unwanted pass at former Olympic rower and Conservative candidate Alex Story. He was reinstated two months later.
The PM cannot be trusted to do the right thing ANGELA RAYNER DEPUTY LABOUR LEADER
@alethaadu