Party chief faces probe over vote deal row
TORY chairman Brandon Lewis faces disciplinary action following a complaint that he broke a pairing arrangement with an MP on maternity leave.
Mr Lewis last week claimed the party had no choice but to launch an investigation into Boris Johnson after it received a number of complaints over his comments on the burka. But now the Conservatives are under pressure to set up a probe into Mr Lewis after receiving a formal complaint by a party member about his behaviour.
Last month, Mr Lewis apologised after breaking a voting pact with Liberal Democrat deputy leader Jo Swinson.
The MPs had been ‘paired’ for crunch votes on Brexit, meaning Mr Lewis was not supposed to take part because Miss Swinson was unable to attend.
In the complaint, seen by the Daily Mail, the member said Mr Lewis had ‘deceived’ Miss Swinson, and called for appropriate action to be taken. ‘If we cannot hold ourselves to high standards, how can we criticise other parties when they are slow and ineffective in their investigations?’, the message said. The Conservatives yesterday declined to comment.
BORIS Johnson’s father last night accused the tory leadership of ‘losing its senses’ over the burka row embroiling his son.
As Cabinet ministers lambasted the party’s ‘cack-handed’ approach, Stanley Johnson claimed Conservative chiefs were ‘making a mountain out of a molehill’.
He suggested his son was facing a ‘kangaroo court’ after describing Muslim women in face-covering veils as looking like letter-boxes or bank robbers.
the party’s treatment of the former foreign secretary – who returned to the UK from holiday in Italy yesterday – has fuelled a tory civil war.
Conservative chairman Brandon Lewis has called on Boris to apologise for his remarks, made in a newspaper column, while the party is considering formal disciplinary action. However, Mr Johnson’s allies believe the ex-London mayor is being targeted because he poses a leadership threat to the Prime Minister.
tory MP Andrew Bridgen last night said grassroots anger could lead to more MPs submitting letters to reach the 48 needed to force a leadership challenge.
He warned: ‘If Boris is suspended it will be open warfare in the Conservative Party. If theresa May dares engineer a leadership contest while Boris is suspended it will be World War three.’ Yesterday Stanley Johnson told Sky News: ‘the hierarchy of the tory Party has collectively lost its senses. It is making a mountain out of a molehill.
‘If ever there was an own goal, the tory Party is in the process of scoring it with this emphasis on a kangaroo court – it’s just nonsense. I blame people who are ready to cook up reasons of their own to attack what was actually a well-written article.’
He accused Labour and Remain-supporting MPs of ‘whipping it all up’ and insisted: ‘We’re all making a terrific mountain out of a molehill here.’ the Sunday times reported that four Cabinet ministers had privately expressed dismay at the handling of the case by Downing Street and tory HQ.
One minister said: ‘It’s been so cack-handed. Boris is a backbencher. What he said wasn’t that outrageous – a lot of people have said worse and a lot of the party happens to agree with him.
‘the sooner the party throws this investigation out, the better. Lots of people both on the front and back benches are really p ***** off.’ A second minister said: ‘It’s been a total cock-up from start to finish. What started out as something and nothing has been whipped up into a storm.
‘It would have soon blown over, but in their willingness to see Boris punished, all they’ve done is hurt themselves.’ Another added: ‘they have managed to engineer a total disaster. there is not a serious political brain in or around Downing Street.
‘trying to silence Boris is stupid, especially when the majority of people agree with him.’
the Muslim Council of Britain, which says Islamophobic incidents have risen since Mr Johnson made his burka comments, will write to Mrs May today demanding a full disciplinary inquiry. the letter will say: ‘We are hopeful that the party will not allow any whitewashing of this specific inquiry currently in process. No one should be allowed to victimise minorities with impunity.’
Mr Johnson appeared unfazed by the row as he wore colourful shorts to bring a tray of tea to journalists waiting outside his home in thame, Oxfordshire.
Meanwhile 53 per cent of voters believe he should not face disciplinary action, according to a ComRes poll for the Sunday Express.