The prime minister confirmed that he was aware of the accusations against the politician when he appointed him to an important post in the Conservative Party.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing another political crisis in his government after he changed his versions of information regarding sexual abuse allegations against a politician appointed to a senior position in the Conservative Party.
This Tuesday (5/07), Health Minister Sajid Javid and Finance Minister Rishi Sunak resigned from their posts.
In 2019, Johnson named Conservative MP Chris Pincher as “assistant to the whip” as his deputy for the post, which is responsible for ensuring that MPs from the ruling party in the British political system vote according to leadership’s guidance.
Pincher stepped down on June 30 after reports of abusing two men at a club in 2019. After announcing his resignation, he said he “drank too much” and “embarrassed me and other people”.
She had previously faced other sexual harassment allegations from members of her party.
After the resignation was announced, the government and some ministers initially denied that Johnson was aware of certain allegations against his party colleague before appointing him to the post.
But former diplomat Lord McDonald accused the government of distorting the truth and said he had been “personally” forwarded to the prime minister about an “official complaint” about Pincher’s behavior in 2019 – he was serving in the parliamentary Foreign Office at the time.
The government now says the prime minister was actually informed in 2019, but “can’t remember that” when new allegations surfaced last week. Johnson confirmed the information from his office and said he had “bitter regret” for not acting on what he knew.
30 June
An article about sexual abuse allegations was published in The Sun newspaper. Pincher resigned.
Image: Getty Images
july 1
A government spokesman said the prime minister was unaware of the allegations against Pincher before he appointed him to the Conservative Party.
On the same occasion, he says something slightly different: that Johnson was unaware of the “special charges” against the congressman.
It also concluded that all ministerial appointments were reviewed by the government’s Property and Ethics team, and that there was no basis for the suspension of the appointment “based on unsubstantiated allegations” at the time.
In the evening of the same day, Pincher is dismissed as a Conservative Party Deputy.
July 3rd
The BBC asked Labor and Welfare Minister Therese Coffey if the prime minister knew of “the allegations of sexual harassment against Chris Pincher” when he appointed her to the post of “assistant whip”.
“As far as I understand, the prime minister was unaware of the specific allegations against Chris Pincher,” Coffey said.
When asked how he got this information, Coffey said it came from “someone in the government’s press office”.
Image: PA Media
4th of July
The next day, Minister for Children and Families Will Quince attended the meeting. today Asked about the BBC, as well as Boris Johnson’s information on the allegations against Pincher.
“I was expecting you to ask this question. Both last night and this morning I have asked the Cabinet for clear and precise answers on this matter and have received firm assurance that the Prime Minister is not aware of any specific accusations or complaints against Pincher has been appointed. “
Image: Reuters
Later, in a TV interview recorded just before 11:30 am, Education Minister Nadhim Zahawi said the allegations against Chris Pincher were “investigated” and “concluded that the results are not true”.
He stressed that Johnson was not aware of the specific allegations.
By 12:30 the government had changed its rhetoric. The spokesperson added that Johnson learned that the allegations “did not turn into a formal complaint” and that “suspending an appointment simply because of unfounded allegations was not deemed appropriate”.
That evening, BBC political correspondent Ione Wells announced that Boris Johnson was informed of an official complaint about Chris Pincher’s “inappropriate behavior” when he was part of the State Department from 2019 to 2020.
The complaint became a disciplinary process that justified the wrongdoings in her behavior.
5th of July
Lord McDonald posted a letter to the British Parliament’s ethics committee on Twitter. The letter read: “The government’s initial speech is not correct and the modified speech is not yet correct.”
He also went to the show today State Department officials said in 2019 that Pincher misbehaved, filed a complaint, and Pincher apologized.
“I have informed a senior government official,” said Lord McDonald. “I know this senior official informed the prime minister personally because that’s what this official told me at the time.”
Image: Reuters
Dominic Raab, who was Secretary of State at the time of the complaint, also joined the program after the letter was published.
He said he did not know that the Prime Minister was aware of the allegations.
“This is news to me – I didn’t know that – and it’s not clear to me whether that’s exactly the case,” he said.
Later in Parliament, Michael Ellis, another member of the British government, confirmed that the prime minister was indeed aware of the allegations, although he did not use the word “formal complaint”. Ellis said that “employees pointed to sources of concern.”
“When new allegations came to light last week, the prime minister didn’t immediately remember talking about this incident at the end of 2019,” he told lawmakers.
The official government spokesman said Johnson “could not remember” the briefing, which would initially take the form of a speech, and that it took time “to determine the exact details”.
When asked when the government decided that last week’s information was not correct, Ellis said it was “late Sunday or early Monday.”
In an interview with the BBC, the Prime Minister said: “There was one complaint that was mentioned to me in particular… It was a long time ago and I was told during a speech… something about it”.
Johnson refused to lie to his team about the briefing, adding: “I’m sick of people saying things on my behalf or trying to talk about things I know or don’t know.”
– Text originally published at https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-62059601
source: Noticias
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