Labour chair, Anneliese Dodds, has written to prime minister Boris Johnson requesting details over what was known about Chris Pincher MP’s historic conduct prior to his appointment as deputy chief whip of the Conservative parliamentary party.
Pincher (pictured) resigned last Thursday (June 30), amid claims that he had groped two men at London’s Carlton Club during the previous night. He told the PM in his letter of resignation that he had “drunk far too much” and had been embarrassed by his actions.
Pincher was then suspended as a Conservative MP on Friday but continues to sit in the Commons as an independent.
However, new allegations emerged against Pincher over the weekend, some dating back years. Pincher has denied the claims, but the Labour party is now putting pressure on the PM to gauge whether Pincher’s historic conduct was known at the time of his promotion to deputy chief whip.
Indeed, Pincher has been previously forced to stand down from a role as Comptroller of the Household in 2017, after Tory candidate Alex Story accused him of inappropriate behaviour.
Dodds has suggested that the prime minister is “happy to sweep sexual misconduct under the carpet in order to save his own skin”, and questioned why it took two days following the allegations against Pincher for him to be suspended by the Conservatives.
Will Quince, minister for children and families, separately said that the controversy around Pincher could be “hugely damaging” for public trust in Parliament.
He said: “Of course it's uncomfortable. I'm hugely embarrassed as a Member of Parliament to be associated in any way by it.
“But what's really important is that, where people do witness or experience behaviour that is totally unacceptable and below the standards accepted of a Member of Parliament or anyone working on the parliamentary estate, it's reported.”
Quince added that it was important for Parliament to create an atmosphere of victim empowerment, where anybody who might be a victim of any inappropriate behaviour can “come forward” and enable “investigations and due process” to take place.
Work & Pensions secretary Therese Coffey said over the weekend that to her knowledge, the PM had not been aware of any specific allegations against Pincher when he was appointed deputy chief whip in February this year.
She said that she had been informed of this by the Downing Street press office and Pincher had undergone normal vetting processes prior to being promoted.
Pincher resigned last Thursday (June 30), amid claims that he had groped two men at London’s Carlton Club during the previous night. He told the PM in his letter of resignation that he had “drunk far too much” and had been left embarrassed by his actions.
Pincher was then suspended as a Conservative MP on Friday but continues to sit in the Commons as an independent.
However, new allegations then emerged against Pincher over the weekend, some dating back years. Pincher has denied the claims, but the Labour party is now putting pressure on the PM to gauge whether Pincher’s historic conduct was known at the time of his promotion to deputy chief whip.
Indeed, Pincher has been previously forced to stand down from a role as Comptroller of the Household in 2017, after Tory candidate Alex Story accused him of inappropriate behaviour.
Dodds has suggested that the prime minister is “happy to sweep sexual misconduct under the carpet in order to save his own skin”, and questioned why it took two days following the allegations against Pincher for him to be suspended by the Conservatives.
Will Quince, minister for children and families, separately said that the controversy around Pincher could be “hugely damaging” for public trust in Parliament.
He said: “Of course it's uncomfortable. I'm hugely embarrassed as a Member of Parliament to be associated in any way by it.
“But what's really important is that, where people do witness or experience behaviour that is totally unacceptable and below the standards accepted of a Member of Parliament or anyone working on the parliamentary estate, it's reported.”
Quince added that it was important for Parliament to create an atmosphere of victim empowerment, where anybody who might be a victim of any inappropriate behaviour can “come forward” and enable “investigations and due process” to take place.
Work & Pensions secretary Therese Coffey said over the weekend that to her knowledge, the PM had not been aware of any specific allegations against Pincher when he was appointed deputy chief whip in February this year.
She said that she had been informed of this by the Downing Street press office and Pincher had undergone normal vetting processes prior to being promoted.
Image by Richard Townshend on Wikimedia Commons
