Downing Street’s attempts to ‘blackmail’ Tory MPs seeking to oust Boris Johnson are ‘illegal’, the chair of the Commons ‘sleaze’ watchdog warned today.
Labour MP Chris Bryant, chairman of the Commons Standards Committee, said alleged threats to withdraw public funding from MPs’ constituencies amounted to ‘misconduct in public office’ and should be referred to the Metropolitan Police.
Speaking to Radio 4’s Today programme, he said there were allegations that the embattled Prime Minister had even been directly involved as he fights to save his skin ahead of Sue Gray’s report into the ‘Partygate’ drama enveloping Westminster.
Mr Bryant also warned that the Prime Minister might not publish Miss Gray’s report in full ‘if he doesn’t like the full text’, adding: ‘The fish rots from the head down’.
His intervention came after William Wragg, the senior Conservative MP who first raised concerns about attempted ‘blackmail’ by No10, disclosed that he is to meet Scotland Yard chiefs to discuss his claims.
Mr Bryant said he had spoken to ‘about a dozen’ Conservatives in recent days who had either been threatened by Government whips with having funding cut from their constituencies or promised funding if they voted ‘the right way’.
‘I have even heard MPs alleging that the Prime Minister himself has been doing this,’ Mr Bryant told the Today programme.
‘What I have said to all of those people is that I think that is misconduct in public office. The people who should be dealing with such allegations are the police.
‘We are not the United States. We don’t run a “pork barrel” system. It is illegal. We are meant to operate as MPs without fear or favour. The allocation of taxpayer funding to constituencies should be according to need, not according to the need to keep the Prime Minister in his job.’
Earlier, Mr Wragg said he would be meeting a Met detective in the House of Commons early next week, raising the prospect police could open an investigation.
The disclosure came after Downing Street said it would not be mounting its own inquiry into the claims, despite calls to do so by both Conservative and opposition MPs.
Labour MP Chris Bryant, chairman of the Commons Standards Committee, said alleged threats to withdraw public funding from MPs’ constituencies amounted to ‘misconduct in public office’ and should be referred to the Metropolitan Police
Downing Street’s attempts to pressure Tory MPs seeking to oust Boris Johnson are ‘illegal’, the chair of the Commons ‘sleaze’ watchdog warned today
William Wragg, the senior Conservative MP who shocked the country after raising concerns about attempted ‘blackmail’ by No10, disclosed that he is to meet Scotland Yard chiefs to discuss his claims
A No10 spokesman said it would only open an inquiry if it was presented with evidence to back up Mr Wragg’s assertions.
However, the MP, who chairs the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, said he believed an investigation should be for the ‘experts’ in the police.
He told The Telegraph that he would outline ‘several’ examples of bullying and intimidation, in some cases involving public money.
‘I stand by what I have said. No amount of gas-lighting will change that,’ he told the newspaper.
‘The offer of Number 10 to investigate is kind but I shall leave it to the experts. I am meeting the police early next week.’
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: ‘As with any such allegations, should a criminal offence be reported to the Met, it would be considered.’
Mr Wragg’s latest intervention comes as No10 is braced for the expected delivery next week of the report of Miss Gray, the senior civil servant investigating lockdown parties in Downing Street and elsewhere in Whitehall.
It is likely to lead to renewed calls from opposition parties for a police investigation if there is any evidence Covid rules were broken — including at a drinks do in May 2020 attended by Mr Johnson.
Mr Wragg, one of seven Tory MPs to have called publicly for the Prime Minister to resign, stunned Westminster with his allegations this week of a campaign of intimidation by No10 amounting to criminal conduct.
Christian Wakeford, the Bury South MP who defected to Labour, later described how the Tory whips had warned him over funding for a new school in his constituency if he rebelled in a vote over free school meals.
Ministers have sought to dismiss the allegations, insisting the whips had no role in the allocation of public funding.
The latest disclosures will only fuel the febrile mood at Westminster, with Mr Johnson’s political survival hanging in the balance.
Mr Wakeford’s defection appeared to have put the plotting on hold as Tory MPs publicly rallied behind the leadership while the rebels largely went to ground.
However, the publication of Miss Gray’s report represents another moment of danger, potentially triggering a fresh wave of letters to the chairman of the Tory backbench 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady.
Under party rules there will be a confidence vote in Mr Johnson if 54 of the party's MPs write to Sir Graham calling for one.
Mr Johnson is expected to spend the weekend at Chequers, his official country residence, ringing round potential rebels urging them not to
