Chief whip made an ‘honest mistake’

A Cabinet minister has sidestepped questions on whether the chief whip should resign over a voting pact row.

Karen Bradley said Julian Smith had made an “honest mistake” when he ordered Tory Party chairman Brandon Lewis to break a pairing agreement with an MP on maternity leave during a crucial Brexit vote.

But the Northern Ireland Secretary, a former whip, twice declined to say if his job was at stake.

Asked if Mr Smith is going to have to resign, Ms Bradley told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Well, you know, I know everybody is fascinated by the workings of the whips’ office.

“But I was a whip, I can tell you that, at the point where you have a number of difficult votes – and let’s be clear, over the last few days we have had a dozens, it turns out, of difficult votes – mistakes happen.

“It was an honest mistake. The chief whip has apologised.”

Meanwhile, when asked if he thought Mr Smith should resign, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, a former chief whip, said: “No, I don’t.”

He added: “I haven’t got any of the details as to what’s happened, but what the government has been absolutely committed to doing is actually delivering the will of the British people, which was given in terms of the referendum, and that is what this government will deliver on as we exit the European Union.”

It is unknown if Julian Smith will be asked to resign.