MP dismisses claimsTories were ‘blackmailed’
A SENIOR Conservative MP has ridiculed claims that Tories are being “blackmailed” into supporting Boris Johnson.
Michael Fabricant, the MP for Lichfield, said it was commonplace for whips to “threaten” their colleagues. Whips are the MPs in every party tasked with ensuring their colleagues support the party leadership.
Mr Fabricant revealed he gave as good as he got. The MP, who used to be a whip himself, described the complaints as “nonsense”, saying on Twitter: “If I reported every time I had been threatened by a Whip or if a Whip reported every time I had threatened them, the police wouldn’t have any time to conduct any other police work!”
It comes after William Wragg, chairman of the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, said he had received reports of conduct amounting to “blackmail” designed to pressure Conservatives into supporting the Prime Minister.
He said they include “members of staff at 10 Downing Street, special advisers, government ministers and others encourag- ing the publication of sto- ries in the press seeking to embarrass those who they suspect of lacking confidence in the Prime Min- ister”.
“The intimidation of a Member of
Parliament is a serious matter. Reports of which I am aware would seem to constitute blackmail,” he said at the start of a committee hearing. ‘‘As such, it would be my general advice to colleagues to report these matters to the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Commissioner of Metropolitan Police.”
Mr Wragg is one of a handful of Tory MPs to have said publicly they have submitted a letter to the chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady calling for a no-confidence vote.
Letters are submitted privately, and allies of Mr Johnson have no way of knowing who has sent a letter unless, like Mr Wragg, they choose to make a public statement.
Boris Johnson said in a statement during a visit to a hospital that he sees “no evidence to support any of those allegations”.
Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner says there must be a full investigation into Mr Wragg’s claims.
“These are grave and shocking accusations of bullying, blackmail, and misuse of public money and must be investigated thoroughly,” she said.
In response to Mr Wragg’s statement, a No 10 spokesman said: “We are not aware of any evidence to support what are clearly serious allegations.”