The Tamworth MP has been stripped of the Conservative whip following a formal complaint over his alleged drunken fondling of two men at a private members’ club earlier this week. But Tory MPs were furious that the Prime Minister waited almost 24 hours before expelling Mr Pincher from the party, with one supporter describing attempts to drag the issue out as “farcical”. The whip was finally withdrawn on Friday afternoon after it was announced that the case was being investigated by parliament’s Independent Whistleblowers and Complaints Scheme, launched in the wake of the ‘Pestminster’ scandal. Mr Pincher resigned as deputy leader of the government – a role that includes responsibilities for the welfare of MPs – late on Thursday, admitting he had “drank too much [and] shame’ at the exclusive Carlton Club in London’s Piccadilly. It was his second resignation over sexual harassment allegations, after he resigned as whip in 2017 after being accused of making an unwanted pass at former Olympic rower Alex Storey. On that occasion, a Conservative inquiry cleared him of breaching the party’s code of conduct. But MPs said stories continued to swirl around Westminster about excessive drinking and inappropriate behaviour. Downing Street insisted today that Johnson was not aware of “any specific allegations” about the 52-year-old MP in February when he promoted him to deputy chief whip. But a No 10 spokesman had to stand corrected after initially saying the Prime Minister was not aware of “any complaints”, in a clear indication that general concerns had been raised about Mr Pincher. The review was carried out by the Cabinet Office’s fitness and ethics team – as it is for all new appointments – but the spokesman said: “In the absence of any formal complaint, it was not appropriate to stop the appointment based on unfounded allegations.” A close ally of the prime minister, Mr Pincher was promoted from housing secretary shortly after he played a prominent role in the “Operation Save Big Dog” effort to stave off threats to Mr Johnson’s leadership. A Tory MP told the Independent: “It’s an absolute mess. It appears that these issues were highlighted at the time of appointment. If the prime minister wants to claim he didn’t know, I’m not sure that’s very credible.” And a former minister said the appointment had raised eyebrows in the Conservative backbenches because it was known Mr Pincher had “preceded”. “Many of us were surprised when he was appointed to the role,” the former minister said. “It was always quite a random date because everyone knew he had a love for alcohol.” The failure to immediately withdraw the whip, as has happened in previous sexual harassment scandals such as the one involving Rob Roberts, “seems to me to suggest that Chris was dealing differently,” he added. Neil Parris, who resigned as a Tory MP after admitting watching pornography in the House of Commons, said he was “very upset” that double standards were being applied. Disgraced MP Neil Parish ‘can’t believe’ Chris Pincher hasn’t removed the whip Speaking before Mr Pincher’s suspension, he said: “He might be deputy chief whip, he might even be the man who took my whip away, so come on, let’s be fair.” Two senior Tory women have called for a formal code of conduct for Conservative MPs to ensure they are all treated “in a fair, independent manner to avoid any suspicion of bias”. Caroline Nokes and Karen Bradley, who chair the women and equalities committee and the procedure committee respectively, said the party risked “serious reputational damage” due to an “inconsistent and unclear” approach to sexual abuse complaints. The pair said that, without exception, MPs facing allegations should stand down and be asked to stay away from parliament until investigations are completed. The Prospect union, which represents a large number of parliamentary staff, has called for all MPs accused of sex offenses to be banned from the estate. “It seems we can’t go a week without yet another revelation of appalling sexual abuse by MPs, yet Parliament – as an employer – is failing to take strong action to protect its employees, MP’s staff and indeed other MPs,” he said. general secretary mike. Clancy. Johnson’s former aide, Dominic Cummings, said concerns about MPs’ fitness for government office were commonly raised when it came to reshuffles. “I have said many times over many years, political parties vote for sexual deviants, incompetent narcissists, sociopaths,” he tweeted. “It’s a feature and not a bug. “When you sit in restructuring meetings, it’s normal to go down a list like: Stretched? Under investigation by the National Crime Agency (don’t know). Drunk; Sex parasite? Sex parasite? Dodgy donors; Yes it’s ok but it’s useless. Fool; Fool; Is he okay? Sex parasite? She’s really good [laughter]; Dodgepot etc.” Former top government lawyer Jonathan Jones agreed: “From my occasional, marginal involvement in reshuffles, this sounds about right. And then half of them get appointed anyway.” Deputy Labor leader Angela Rayner said Johnson had to “crawl kicking and screaming to get any action”. “He just can’t be trusted to do the right thing,” she said. “This whole scandal is yet another testament to his horrible judgement. It is time for Conservative MPs to show this chaotic Prime Minister the door before he can do any more damage.” Liberal Democrat leader Wendy Chamberlain said Mr Pincher would have to stand down as an MP if the allegations against him were proven. “Boris Johnson should never have acted and withdrawn the whip,” he said. “Once again it seems that Johnson had to be forced to do the right thing. “There can be no more cover-ups or excuses. If this investigation confirms these serious allegations, Chris Pincher should definitely resign.” Meanwhile, Downing Street announced that the MP for Rochester and Stroud, Kelly Tolhurst, had been appointed to fill Mr Pincher’s former position as deputy leader.
