Friday 1 July 2022 09:15 AM Boris under pressure to act against Chris Pincher for drunkenly molesting men ... trends now
Boris Johnson is facing mounting pressure to take action against a senior Tory MP who allegedly groped two men while drunk - amid claims the Prime Minister was already aware of previous claims of sordid behaviour.
Chris Pincher resigned as deputy chief whip last night, saying he had 'embarrassed himself and other people', after drinking too much at the Tories' elite Carlton Club in London.
But Mr Johnson has been told to strip the Tamworth MP of the Tory whip as it emerged he was handed the key role enforcing party discipline in February despite allegations about his own lack of self control.
He apologised publicly and resigned as a whip before in 2017 after being accused by a Tory candidate of making an unwanted pass at him.
Politco today identified Mr Pincher as the Tory MP said to have required a 'minder' to accompany him to events to keep him out of trouble, something denied by the Conservatives.
No10 has said that as Pincher has resigned his whip role no further action is required. But critics pointed out that Neil Parish had resigned as Tiverton and Honiton MP for watching porn in the Commons - something less than an alleged sexual assault.
That resulted in the by-election last week where the Lib Dems overturned a Toruy majority of more than 24,000 to take the seat. Mr Pincher's majority in Staffordshire is 20,000, but the seat was held by Labour for 13 years before he was elected in 2010.
One MP who was at the event at the Carlton Club on Wednesday claimed to the Guardian Mr Pincher had been so drunk 'he could barely stand up'.
Welsh Secretary Simon Hart appeared to be reluctant to defend the 52-year-old former Europe minister, an ultra loyalist ally of the PM.
On the media round this morning he suggested that he could lose the whip by the end of the day and voiced his 'frustration' at the conveyor belt of sleaze engulfing the party.
'Let's let today play out, let the chief whip do his duty today, and then I think we might be having a very different conversation as the day goes on,' he told Sky News.
Chris Pincher resigned as deputy chief whip last night, saying he had 'embarrassed himself and other people', after drinking too much at the Tories' elite Carlton Club in London.
But Mr Johnson has been told to strip the Tamworth MP of the Tory whip as it emerged he was handed the key role enforcing party discipline in February despite allegations about his own lack of self control.
Welsh Secretary Simon Hart appeared to be reluctant to defend the 52-year-old, suggesting he could lose the whip by the end of the day and voicing his 'frustration' at the conveyor belt of sleaze engulfing the party.
Mr Pincher's majority in Staffordshire is 20,000, but the seat was held by Labour for 13 years before he was elected in 2010.
Pictured: The incident took place in the exclusive Carlton Club in London
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said she believes Mr Pincher should have the whip suspended, saying the Government's response to the allegations are a 'total disgrace'.
She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'These allegations are really serious. This is about sexual assault. It comes after we've had the Wakefield and Tiverton by-elections, which were also as a result of serious incidents involving Conservative MPs.
'So, the idea that the response that we've seen that the Prime Minister thinks he's done the decent thing by resigning and there's no need for an investigation, well, that's a total disgrace.
'The whip's office are responsible for discipline and standards among Conservative MPs. Boris Johnson chose this MP to be deputy chief whip because he was a friend and ally, despite the fact that he had to resign five years ago from the whip's office due to similar-sounding allegations.
'Of course, there has to be a full investigation now and, of course, he should have the whip suspended while that investigation takes place.'
In his letter to the PM last
