MPS raised doubts over Pincher’s behaviour before his promotion
Senior Tories round on PM over ‘double standards’ as fallout in party intensifies after ‘groping’ allegations
THE low point of yet another chaotic 24 hours for Boris Johnson came when “tractor porn MP” Neil Parish popped up on the airwaves to give him a lecture on moral standards in government.
As the Prime Minister and his aides were holed up in No 10 deciding how to respond to the Chris Pincher scandal, the former backbencher was giving hs views on television.
“I can’t believe they haven’t done it,” he said incredulously when asked why the whip had not been removed. Referring to his own punishment for watching porn in the Commons, he added: “It’s double standards.”
His outrage encapsulated how untenable Downing Street’s insistence had become that Mr Pincher would be able to remain a Tory MP despite accusations he drunkenly groped two men. Just over two hours later Chris Heatonharris, the chief whip, put out a statement reversing that decision following a day of growing anger among backbench Tories at the Prime Minister’s failure to act.
Mr Pincher resigned from his role as deputy chief whip on Thursday night after allegations emerged that he had sexually assaulted two men while “incredibly drunk” at the private Carlton Club in central London.
A Tory source said: “The Prime Minister thinks he [Mr Pincher] has done the decent thing by resigning. There is no need to suspend the whip.” But things quickly got worse for No 10 yesterday morning when it emerged that numerous MPS, including the Cabinet minister Steve Barclay, had raised concerns about Mr Pincher’s behaviour when he was promoted in February.
Questions about whether he was suitable for the role of deputy chief whip, which involves handling issues related to MPS’ welfare, were substantial enough for the appointment to be referred to the Government’s internal ethics team.
Claims also emerged from the Politico website that Mr Pincher had been given a Government “minder” who accompanied him to events to make sure he did not get too drunk.
What followed was a drip-drip of quotes from anonymous Tory MPS expressing disbelief at Downing Street’s stance, alongside a steady flow of calls into Mr Heaton-harris calling for a change of tack.
Yet at midday No 10 still remained defiant, with the Prime Minister’s spokesman telling reporters he considered the matter closed since Mr Pincher had resigned and that there was no investigation into his conduct.
The pressure built throughout the afternoon, with senior Tory backbenchers Caroline Nokes and Karen Bradley sending the Prime Minister a joint letter urging him to take a “zero tolerance” approach to sexual misconduct.
And early in the evening Downing St was eventually forced to act and announced it had stripped Mr Pincher of the whip, given that a formal complaint had been made to Parliament’s harassment watchdog.
The Prime Minister had also been “troubled” by a “disturbing” call from one of the MPS who witnessed the incident and relayed to him a detailed account of what had happened, according to a source close to him.
Meanwhile, lurid details also began to emerge of Mr Pincher’s conduct on the night in question, including claims he was so drunk he could “barely stand up” and that a fellow Tory MP had to “drag” him out of the exclusive private members’ bar.
The then deputy chief whip had attended a Conservative Friends of Cyprus event at the Carlton
Club at which prosecco and wine was served. He gave a short speech and witnesses said he was not drunk. But after the gathering broke up at 9pm and most colleagues left he stayed behind and is said to have become more inebriated.
It was later on that the 52-year-old is said to have groped the two men, one of whom is in his 20s.
One Tory MP present at the scene told how they “threw out” a “very drunk” Mr Pincher after being told about one of the two sexual assaults and then called the chief whip at 3am. “I was made aware of the first situation, and I took him outside and told him to leave, because he was too drunk. I was told he had been inappropriate with someone, and apparently he had run his hands down him,” they said.
A second MP who did witness at least one of the groping incidents said they had also informed Mr Heaton-harris the following morning. “Given the nature of the behaviour and the seniority of the role he held it was highly inappropriate behaviour,” said the MP. “This is not the first time there has been conversations about this person. Many of us were surprised when that appointment was made.”
It is the second time Mr Pincher has been
‘I was made aware of the first situation and took him outside. I told him to leave because he was too drunk’
forced to resign from the whips’ office over allegations of sexual impropriety. In 2017 he quit a more junior position after being accused by a former Tory candidate of trying to chat him up.
Alex Story, an ex-olympic rower, said he had invited him back to his flat and acted “like a pound shop Harvey Weinstein” untucking his shirt, massaging his neck and whispering to him: “You’ll go far in the Conservative Party.” A former activist in the party’s youth wing said that Mr Pincher was known as “Uncle Monty” among young Tories — a reference to a predatory homosexual character in the cult film Withnail & I.
The source said: “He was older than us. It was quite groomy in hindsight. He would always invite me back to his flat near London Bridge. I’m a big bloke so I wasn’t worried. He would offer me back rubs at his flat and stuff like that.”
It leaves the Prime Minister facing more questions from within the Tory party over his leadership and his ability to make judgments on questions of personal behaviour.
“Boris has set the level andeveryone else is trying to imitate him. It doesn’t look good,” one former minister said.