PM ‘had no reason to block whip role’
BORIS Johnson had no reason to block the appointment of Chris Pincher as Tory deputy chief whip, Downing Street has said, despite appearing to acknowledge there had been concerns about him.
Mr Pincher dramatically quit on Thursday after a drunken incident in which he allegedly groped two male guests at a London private members’ club.
The Prime Minister was under pressure to go further and suspend him from the Tory Party, while opposition parties said his position as an MP was untenable.
Downing Street appeared to acknowledge that there had been concerns when he was appointed to the key post of deputy chief whip, with responsibility for discipline over Tory MPs, in February.
However a No 10 spokesman said the Prime Minister had not been made aware of anything that would have prevented the appointment going ahead.
“In the absence of any formal complaints, it was not appropriate to stop an appointment on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations,” the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, the only two women Tory MPs to chair Commons select committees – Caroline Nokes and Karen Bradley – have called for a policy of “zero tolerance” for any such alleged conduct, with any MP facing allegations having the Conservative whip withdrawn while they are investigated.
In a joint letter to the Prime Minister, they said: “The party and, by extension, the Government are at risk of serious reputational damage by the current approach.
“We urge you to act swiftly to introduce a code of conduct for all Conservative members of Parliament which is clear in terms of the expectations of behaviour and which can be applied in a fair, independent manner so as to avoid any suspicion of bias.”
Downing Street confirmed there had been an exchange of messages between Mr Johnson and Mr Pincher on Thursday evening but declined to say whether it was before or after Mr Pincher submitted his resignation.
A No 10 spokesman said: “The Prime Minister thinks it was right for him to have resigned and accepted his resignation.”
Mr Johnson was under pressure to explain why he gave Mr Pincher such a sensitive post amid reports that he had been advised not to do so.
The Tamworth MP was brought in to shore up support for Mr Johnson amid growing unrest over the disclosures about lockdown parties in Downing Street.
In 2017 Mr Pincher quit the whips office after a complaint over an unwanted pass at the former Olympic rower and Conservative candidate Alex Story.
However, he was reinstated two months later as a senior whip by Theresa May after having referred himself to the police and Conservative Party complaints procedure.
Asked whether Mr Johnson had been warned about his latest appointment, the No 10 spokesman said: “He was not aware of any specific allegations.”
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said Mr Pincher should have the whip suspended while a full investigation is carried out.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “These allegations are really serious. This is about sexual assault.
“The idea that the response that we’ve seen that the Prime Minister thinks he’s done the decent thing by resigning and there’s no need for an investigation, well, that’s a total disgrace.”