‘Groper’ suspended as MPs call for zero tolerance on sleaze
CHRIS Pincher was suspended from the Conservative Party yesterday, following claims he groped two men while drunk.
An investigation is also under way into the allegations – the latest sleaze scandal to rock Westminster.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson acted after a complaint about Pincher was made to Parliament’s Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) watchdog.
But the delay in swift action has angered two of the Conservatives’ most senior women backbenchers.
Pincher, 52, quit as Tory deputy chief whip after admitting being drunk at a private London club.
Mr Johnson initially resisted calls to remove the whip from the Tamworth MP. But Pincher was suspended after the ICGS received a formal complaint. A spokeswoman for chief whip Chris Heaton-Harris said: “The PM has agreed that the whip should be suspended from Chris Pincher while the investigation is ongoing.”
In an open letter, former ministers Caroline Nokes and Karen Bradley said the party must display a “zero-tolerance policy” on sexual misconduct. They said its recent approach to accusations posed a risk of “serious reputational damage”.
They urged the party to introduce a code of conduct for all Tory MPs and “ensure a thorough investigation is carried out in each and every case”.
It is understood Mr Johnson spoke to a Tory MP who was with one of the men allegedly groped by Pincher.
A Downing Street source said: “The account given was sufficiently disturbing to make the Prime Minister feel more troubled by all this.” Other critics pointed out that MP Neil Parish had quit for watching porn in the Commons – less than an alleged sexual assault.
Mr Parish himself demanded tougher action. He said: “The first thing they did to me is that they withdrew the whip.
There cannot be double standards.” Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said Mr Johnson’s failure to act earlier “just shows the rot that has set in at the heart of this Government”.