Johnson ‘blamed drink’ for alleged gropes
BIRMINGHAM MP Gary Sambrook accused Boris Johnson of blaming drink for Chris Pincher’s behaviour when he allegedly groped two men in a stinging Commons rebuke during which he called on the beleaguered Prime Minister to resign.
Mr Sambrook, the Conservative MP for Northfield, said Mr Johnson told MPs who were at London’s exclusive Carlton Club that they should have “tried to intervene to stop Chris from drinking so much”.
Mr Sambrook, a ‘red wall’ MP of the 2019 intake, turned on Mr Johnson, insisting he “always tries to blame other people for mistakes” in a remarkable Commons outburst during PMQs, which drew a puzzled expression from the PM.
MPs burst out in applause following Mr Sambrook’s speech, earning them a rebuke from the Speaker as clapping is not part of Commons convention.
Mr Sambrook, who is a member of the powerful backbench 1922 committee, which could help seal Mr Johnson’s fate, said: “Yesterday, in an attempt to boost morale in the tea room, the Prime Minister said ‘there were seven MPs in the Carlton Club last week, one of them should have tried to intervene to stop Chris from drinking so much’.
“As if that wasn’t insulting enough to the people who did try and intervene that night – and also to the victims, that drink was the problem.
“Isn’t it the example, Mr Speaker, that as the Prime Minister constantly tries to deflect from the issue, always tries to blame other people for mistakes, that there is nothing left for him to do other than take responsibility and design.”