Boris Johnson, accused of the sex scandal of a member of his party

Once again the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson finds himself involved in a deal lying to Parliament. gross negligence of the ministerial code, which this time could not be forgiven by his conservative party and not get away with it, as happened with the case of the parties in Downing St, during the imprisonment.

Conservative MP e whip Congressman Chris Pincher resigned from his post last week after being accused of “groping” two lawmakers at a private London club. He had been specially named by Boris, despite his past of him.

But on Monday it became known that he had already been investigated for his sexual conduct, when he was foreign minister three years ago. His actions were also known to Carrie Johnson, wife of the prime minister and former party communications director.

Despite everything, Boris Johnson named him Whip number two in the House of Commons.

harsh accusations

In an explosive letter to Parliament’s Standards Commissioner released Tuesday, former Foreign Office Permanent Secretary Lord McDonald accused Downing Street of making “inaccurate claims”, saying they “continue to change their story and still don’t tell the story. TRUE “.

The letter was another bombshell on credibility and on Boris Johnson’s word.

Prime Minister Johnson was briefed on an investigation into Conservative Congressman Chris Pincher’s “inappropriate behavior” in 2019. Downing St initially said the prime minister was unaware of the specific allegations against his former deputy chief. Now his house of government’s new argument is that Boris Johnson “forgot” about the protests at the time against Pincher.

However, Lord McDonald of Salford, a former head of the Foreign Office, said so on Tuesday Downing St was not telling the truth.

Lord McDonald of Salford wrote to the Commissioner for Parliamentary Standards stating that Johnson was briefed “in person” about an investigation into Chris Pincher’s conduct as foreign minister.

He said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Cabinet Office had started an investigation into these allegations in 2019 and ruled against him.

Pincher had accepted the facts. Sir McDonald also revealed that a senior official had informed the Prime Minister at the time. The then foreign minister Dominique Raab admitted that he was informed.

emergency meeting

Asking an urgent question to the House of Commons, Labor Party Deputy Leader Angela Rayner said: “The prime minister was personally briefed on these allegations and yet he was either negligent or complicit.”

But government minister Michael Ellis insisted that the prime minister had “acted honestly at all times” in his defense in the House.

“Last week, when new allegations emerged, the prime minister did not immediately recall the conversation at the end of 2019 about this incident,” he added.

“As soon as he was reminded (of the briefing), the Downing St press office corrected his public jokes,” he insisted in his defense in the House of Commons.

angry conservatives

Ellis stood up to defend the prime minister, before shouts of “resignation” of the opposition benches. The deputies laughed when you said it was a “pleasure” to address the parliamentarians.

He faced a number of reproaches from the conservative benches. William Wragg, chairman of the civil service select committee, told ministers to “consider what they are being asked to say in public, which apparently changes by the hour.”

“I’d like to ask them to consider the common sense of decency that I know the vast majority of them have. Let them wonder if they can continue to tolerate being part of a government which, for better or for worse, is widely regarded as having lost its sense of direction, “the Conservative MP told the parliamentary session.

John Penrose, the prime minister’s former anti-corruption champion, also attacked Boris.

“Lord McDonald’s letter today makes it clear that Downing St was not being honest in what he said. One of Nolan’s seven principles (of public life) is honesty. Downing St was previously accused, without rebuttal, of lack of leadership by Sue Gray in her report on what happened at Partygate. How many more of the seven principles will they have to violate before Ellis stands up and says “enough is enough”? “Asked the Conservative MP.

A particularly striking speech came from Caroline Johnson, the MP generally loyal to Sleaford and North Hykeham. “Lord McDonald’s letter says that ‘in essence the allegations were similar to those made about misconduct at the Carlton Club.’ The allegations, as reported to the Carlton Club, include sexual assaults. Can you confirm whether the allegations made in 2019 were of sexual assault, and if they were, and have been confirmed and apologized. [por]Why weren’t the police involved and why wasn’t he fired at the time, ever?

Boris Johnson’s deputy word

Shortly before the publication of the letter from Lord McDonald’s, eDeputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab told Sky News’s Kay Burley that he is aware of the allegationwhen he was chancellor in 2019.

He acknowledged that he “made it clear” to Pincher that the behavior “would never be repeated.” He referred him to both the civil service and the cabinet for investigation.

But Raab said that the investigations did not “trigger disciplinary action” and that he had spoken of the incident to the premier only “in the last few days”.

Johnson led a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, letting the cameras in for his opening remarks. But without allowing journalists to ask questions.

Surrounded by his ministers, the prime minister spoke about the cost of living crisis and his plans to address it. But he didn’t mention Pincher’s or Lord McDonald’s letter.

The “forgetfulness” of the Prime Minister

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, a spokesman for Downing St confirmed this Johnson was informed of the complaint in late 2019. But he said the prime minister decided to reconfirm Pincher in February 2022 because “at the time he offered the job, he was unaware” of new specific allegations under consideration.

The spokesperson also suggested that the prime minister had forgotten that he had been informed of the incident, saying: “I would like to add at least one caveat that this was a conversation, and what I think was a short conversation, which took place around three years ago”.

But, he added, “Minister and attorney Michael Ellis insisted that the prime minister had ‘always acted with probity'”.

Paris, correspondent

CB